Discussion for article #229993
But money spent on state lotteries circulates. People buy tickets, the money goes into the lottery, some of it goes to pay winners (and a cut for the store they bought it in), money goes to expenses like paying salaries to lottery employees, some goes to schools or whatever worthy cause the state uses to attract customers and obscure the fact that it’s scamming those customers. The money is used!
But tax money…oh, yeah, tax money gets used in pretty much the same way, except that instead of a few big winners, all the people win when government protects them from fires and crime and scam artists (except the lottery), paves roads, keeps up bridges and builds new ones…
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The expected payback is terrible … like 50%. Roulette in Vegas is more like 95%.
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As of September 2014, the greater Atlantic City area has one of the highest unemployment rates in the country at 13.8%, out of labor force of around 141,000.
Visit any part of Atlantic City that isn’t actually a casino property and then tell me about the broad social benefits of legalized gambling.
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Somebody once said that state lotteries are taxes on stupidity, and while it’s a bit mean-spirited it’s fundamentally correct.
I’m shocked to see that the lottery provides no funds for education in most states. And of course, even if it did provide funds for education, it’s not “extra money”, the state funding for education through property and income taxes would decline.
My biggest problem with the lottery, though, is that the states are explicitly encouraging, with multi-million dollar ad campaigns, to do something that is harmful. There are other issues where there is perhaps some nuance, but there can be no question that people in poverty playing the lottery is just wrong.
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Kudos to Oliver for doing such a thorough piece on lotteries.
They are bad on just about every level…but between folks’
gambling addictions and the little lottery money that does
trickle in, don’t expect reform any time soon…
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Since children are not allowed to buy lottery tickets, why are they being used to sell them in commercials. It really sickened me to see that New York Lottery commercial.
State Lotteries are a tax on the poor so the wealthy can pay less taxes.
In every State that has lotteries, taxes on the wealthy immediately were lowered when the lottery law was passed.
This is not a coincidence.
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No matter how it’s tarted up, vice is still vice…
America, seriously off track since WWII ended.
After I was hit by lightning some years ago, I went out and bought some lottery tickets so that I could say without reservation that it was easier for me to get hit by lightning than win at my state’s lottery game. (n=1, of course)
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Though otherwise smart people with a chemical imbalance can get sucked in and addicted. One of the ways we know this is that people on certain medications can suddenly become problem gamblers, despite never before gambling in their lives. Like other addictions, people can intellectually know it’s unhealthy/unhelpful, but are unable to think their way out of the problem. It certainly does prey on the innumerate. I agree with most of your points though.
I buy lottery scratchers. I like the various “Crossword” varieties. They’re a good time sink for a few minute and nothing else. I’m not expecting any payout. I’m not hinging my future on it.
The lottery is a tax on poverty.
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The people who buy Lottery tickets, their money was going to circulate anyway. They aren’t buying the ticket instead of saving up for that nice Tuscan villa. It would be nice if they were actually getting something for their money. Food. An education. New Clothes. Lottery should either be banned nationwide, or they need to be a lot more open about what happens to the money so people can make an actual informed decision about their purchase…