It’s common wisdom that the two best incentives to get someone to “do the right thing” are the carrot and the stick. In other words, reward them for performing a good deed, or punish them for not doing one.
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A prime example is how drivers are treated with respect to speeding. Habitual speeders are given tickets and may even have their licenses suspended. And those who don’t speed may be eligible for insurance rate reductions.
Opposition To Get Vaccinated
Today, among the tens of millions of our nation’s vast population of ignoramuses, there is widespread opposition to getting vaccinated against the Covid-19 virus. To persuade these anti-vaxxers to do the right thing, several states and localities have begun offering monetary rewards of $100 or even more.
Do these incentives work? Of course! But there are three main problems with this approach.
First, these programs could end up costing billions of dollars. Second, many people who have already been vaccinated could ask why they too had not been paid. And finally, not nearly enough people are being incentivized to get vaccinated no matter high the reward.
There must be a huge overlap between the people who refuse to get vaccinated and the people who buy lottery tickets. Neither is exhibiting very smart behavior. The former are largely ignoramuses, while the latter are mainly escapists who waste their hard-earned dollars on one-in-million chances of becoming sudden millionaires.
So, I would like to offer a solution that would appeal to perhaps most of the anti-vaxxers, while costing very little. Instead of doling out hundred- dollar rewards for getting vaccinated, the states could, alternatively, hand out vouchers for free lottery tickets.
Anti-Vaxxers Are Truly Despicable
Just in case you’re not sure where I’m coming from, let me be brutally frank. While I have nothing against the poor souls who line up to waste money on a dream of winning the lottery, I do feel sorry that they’re wasting their hard-earned wages on such long-shot bets.
But, with rare exceptions, the people who refuse to get vaccinated – thus putting the rest of us in danger – are not just ignorant, but in nearly all cases, truly despicable.
So why not incentivize all these lost souls to do the right thing at minimal cost? Surely that’s a win-win proposition.
Every day, millions of Americans line up to buy lottery tickets. Now they can save themselves, say, a hundred bucks, by getting vaccinated. As soon as they get their shots, they’re given a choice – a hundred dollars or a voucher for, say, a two-hundred dollar-voucher for lottery tickets, which cost the state government pennies in printing and handling.
Just imagine the national reaction each time one of these folks hits the lottery. Better yet, think of how many lives will be saved by getting all these people vaccinated.
