Sure wager is lottery exploitation of poor

Minneapolis Star Tribune ^ | 12/31/02 | Paul Campos

[rhema]

Last week's record Powerball prize generated a windfall of publicity for that multi-state lottery. Several cable news channels gave live coverage to the press conference announcing that one lucky ticket buyer had won a nine-figure jackpot, and in subsequent days the national media dedicated extensive coverage to the story.

[Drango]

In effect, state lotteries function as a kind of stupidity tax.

And a tax on people who are poor at math.

[RKV]

WE know better than you ignorant, unwashed masses. We will make all your choices for you. Everything which is not forbidden is mandatory. You will submit to the will of the collective... /rant

[rellimpank]

--not that I'm particularly defending state lotteries, but they are a voluntary tax on those stupid enough to participate--

[Davis]

Here's an interesting perspective on the System...

http://www.atrentino.com/System.html

[mewzilla]

How are lotteries any worse than investing in the stock market?

[SamAdams76]

I object to the state lottery for the primary reason that it is not a proper role of government to serve as "bookie" to its citizens. I've got no problem with the legalization of privately-owned gambling establishments (and the government can collect the taxes from them) but the government should not be in the gambling business at all.

As the article points out, state lotteries give much worse odds than even that bookie down at the barber shop with the football cards. It is almost impossible to win more from a state lottery than what you sink into it. The vast majority of state lottery "winners" win anything from a free ticket to maybe $40 or $100. Of course, most people winning these prizes are spending that much on lottery tickets a month - month after month. Then you have a few winners in the $250 to $1,000 category. Again, these are usually won by people who have easily put that much money into the system several times over before they finally "won."

As for the rare million dollar winner (which is less frequent than people who have been hit by lightning), the state shamelessly parades them out to the media as willing shills to promote the ripoff that is the state lottery to give false hope to all the other suckers out there to encourage them to keep playing.

How many people do you know at work or in the family who are always buying these tickets and who pathetically spend "mentally" their million dollar winnings. They say stupid things like "When I win my million dollar Powerball prize, I'm going tell my boss to shove it! Yeah baby!"

These people, of course, are the ones who can least afford these lottery tickets. They usually do not manage their money very well and are living paycheck to paycheck. Which explains why so many lottery winners end up foolishly spending themselves back into financial ruin again anyhow. To grasp the mindset of a typical "big" lottery winner, consider that when a large prize is won, the winner has a choice of receiving a smaller lump payment up front or a annual stipend for 20 or 30 years that adds up to far more money in the long run. The winners typically opt for the lump sum in which case they get maybe half the money they would have ended up with had they selected the other option and spend it away all the quicker.

[SamAdams76]

How are lotteries any worse than investing in the stock market?

Are you serious?

[mewzilla]

You haven't seen our 401k. Yeah, I'm serious.

[Gorzaloon]

How are lotteries any worse than investing in the stock market?

Up until the dot.bomb. era, investing in the stock market was not supposed to be gambling. One did their homework, and studied the companies and the markets, etc., and did NOT restrict this study to reading press releases or pump-and-dump postings, etc., or blindly allow their broker to furnish "Hot tips from the oatbag" and churn their accounts every week.

However, now, I agree, there is not much difference..But that is not the way it was supposed to be.

[spectre]

The compassionate side of me, says that if a person is so darn poor, and they never, never can see a chance to make any big money, or inherit it, then what the heck is wrong with investing a couple of bucks to try and win something?

It's their only ticket to a chance to get out of a financial rut. It's their only hope, albeit a slim one...it's still hope.

sw

[SamAdams76]

If your 401(k) was like the state lottery, it would be worth zero right now. Does your 401(k) statement read zero?

I have given at least 10% of my salary to my 401(k) since 1985. Even though it took a beating the last three years, I can still buy several houses with it. That's a much wiser choice than if I used that money for lottery tickets.

[buffyt]

These words stick out when I read the article. We have been saying similar things ever since Texas got a lottery. I see poor looking people buying large numbers of lottery tickets. People who can least afford them.

"The private wagering business is forced to give back approximately 90 percent of all money, State lotteries, by contrast, give back only 50 percent.

In effect, state lotteries function as a kind of stupidity tax. .....self-evidently bankrupt principle that it is the state's business to try to profit from the exploitation of human weakness.

State-run lotteries feature the worst of all worlds. ....they allow the strong to prey upon the weak, by allowing the state's tax burden to be shifted toward the poor

...state lotteries have nothing to do with any moral principle, and everything to do with the political principle that the easiest way to raise taxes is always to create a new, preferably indirect, tax on the poor."

[SamAdams76]

The compassionate side of me, says that if a person is so darn poor, and they never, never can see a chance to make any big money, or inherit it, then what the heck is wrong with investing a couple of bucks to try and win something?

Let them go to the dog track or Atlantic City. Or their local Bingo hall at the church. I just don't think the government's role is to be that of a "bookie."

[mewzilla]

To me, it's a matter of trust. I haven't seen any evidence of states rigging their lotteries. Can't say the same for Wall Street.

[RKV]

Time value of money says your argument is dead wrong. The lump sum payment is discounted, which is why it is less. Did you ever take high school math? When I did they taught me about compound interest and discounting. I don't disagree with you about the state being a bookie, but frankly governments have done much worse things than sell lottery tickets to pay for themselves. At least participation is optional. Yes the odds are terrible - so what? No one is forced to participate, which is more than I can say about other taxes. Yes, people do dumb things. I don't want the gov to be my nanny, and I am unwilling to pay for it to be anyone else's nanny. Got it? The Constitution defines what the Feds can do (or at least if we had a legislature that believed it meant what it said we would) and state constitutions define what they can do. If the people amend their state constitutions to allow lotteries then go for it.

[DWSUWF]

"...WE know better than you ignorant, unwashed masses. We will make all your choices for you. Everything which is not forbidden is mandatory. You will submit to the will of the collective..."

You forgot to express your portion of the collective hate of anything light-hearted and simply fun!

You forgot to call for the people to regurgitate their anti-lottery cliches! (Although I see that some here have done their duty...)

You forgot to demand that the collective boot of the people be used to smash the face of the Powerball guy...

FOREVER!

You have been ungood comrade.

[buffyt]

I don't mind when a person buys a couple of tickets. I have bought them. Back when we first got a lottery here in Texas we bought a ticket or two. One time I had several numbers right and won $79. So I stopped buying tickets and quit while I was ahead. I just hate it when I see poor looking people, dirty, ragged people, buying a large number of lottery tickets. I think they are the ones who can least afford it, and they are the ones who are buying the most tickets. Friends of ours will buy a ticket or two when the jackpot is high. The rest of the time, they ignore the lottery. I do see it as a tax on the poor. It was sold to us here in Texas as more tax dollars for schools, education. It all goes into the state's general fund. I don't think it would have passed if we had known the money wouldn't all go for education.

[leadpenny]

I object to the state lottery for the primary reason that it is not a proper role of government to serve as "bookie" to its citizens. I've got no problem with the legalization of privately-owned gambling establishments (and the government can collect the taxes from them) but the government should not be in the gambling business at all.

I agree with the article and your comments. The states should not be involved in get-rich-quick type Ponzi schemes and it is why I never have and never will buy a lottery ticket.