State lotteries, robbing the poor to give to the rich?

[WriterDom]

Since 1993, 600,000 students have attended colleges and technical colleges through Georgia's HOPE scholarship program and more than 372,000 four-year-olds have attended Georgia's pre-kindergarten program. Schools have been given more than 1.6 billion dollars for computers and other capital outlays.

But is money the biggest obstacle to going to college? Every day, the lottery commission runs ads targeted at the poor and ignorant (or anyone bad at math) with the promise of easy riches. And any weekend night in the poorest neighborhoods, the lines are long for scratch offs, pick 3, pick 5, and other faint prayers for instant riches. It smells of taking from the poor to give to the richer to me. But I guess it all comes down to choice.

But to the good people of Alabama, Tennessee, North Carolina, and South Carolina, Yall come across the state lines again today and get those tickets. Your money is good here.

 

[registered "^^"]

All states with the worst educational records..........

 

[Marxist]

What are you complaining about WD?

State sponsored Higher Education should be free (like Finland) but only available to those that qualify talentwise.

Seeing as how America is too stupid to get on that bandwagon, this is the capitalist's way of implementing a smart idea.

I figured you'd approve, WD.

 

[Myrrdin]

Buying lottery tickets is a form of escapism, an escape into a potential land of wealth and happiness. where the sun always shines and the fridge is always full.

Surfing the internet, on the other hand, is grim reality full of the nitty-gritty of real life.

(Extract tongue from cheek[i/])

 

[Thumper]

So what are ya tryin to tell me WD?

That dropping my entire paycheck may be a bad investment?

Shit! Now ya tell me!

I thought I was a shoo-in.

I put 900 bucks on the same 6 numbers. I figured I would win 900 times as much as if I spent a dollar.

I was a math whiz in school....I pissed away that hour every day.

 

[Oliver Clozoff]

I once heard an NPR radio story on lotteries and they quoted a mathematician who made a similar argument to the one WD's uses. He referred to lotteries as a "tax on the mathematically challenged". I'd be curious to hear what some of the BB's more vocal defenders of social equality have to say about this argument.

Traditionally, opposition to lotteries in America (especially in the South) has come primarily from religious conservatives, especially Christians who oppose gambling, but there are plenty of other reasons. In addition to the argument given above that the lottery victimizes the lower class and uneducated, there's also growing scientific and behavioral research showing that gambling and many other behaviors (including sex) can cause similar changes in the brain's natural reward systems to addiction with drugs. It's becoming increasingly apparent that at a basic neurochemical level "process addictions" are virtually indistinguishable from "substance addictions".

Physicians and researchers who study addiction are quick to distinguish "physical dependence", which is found in many addictive drugs, from "addiction" which is considered a derangement of the brain's dopamine reward system. These are two separate medical phenomena that are sometimes seen together (for example in addiction to opiates like heroin), but they're often found separately (e.g. process addictions are "addictions" in this technical sense but don't cause physical withdrawal. Conversely, use of nasal decongestants like Afrin can cause physical dependence without affecting the brain's reward system.)

Is gambling on the lottery an addiction? I'd say that it probably is, at least in the case of those who "know better". For the "mathematically challenged" lottery playing can be attributed to ignorance - a simple miscalculation in the ratio of expected benefit to cost in playing. Their behavior can be easily understood. But what about the rest of us who play? If you know the odds are stacked against you (as most of us at least claim to know, although I suspect each of us isn't totally convinced that the universe operates by the same set of laws for us than for everyone else), why would you continue to play? Perhaps it's understandable for someone with money to spare to pick up an occasional ticket on a whim, but what about for low to low-middle income people who know the odds but play every week anyway? It's irrational and why do we freely choose an irrational behavior? Or do we freely choose it at all?

Our society is already seeing the consequences of treating people as free-actors when they're not really free at all. Look at the current drug policy. We've long locked up repeat drug-users for "choosing" to use again. Look at the case of Robert Downey Jr. - time after time he perfoms a behavior that throws away his career, lots of money, and subjects him to worldwide social shaming. Does that seem like something someone would choose? Go to a Gamblers Anonymous meeting and you'll hear similar stories.

And so it is for gambling. And for the internet for that matter. Right now I'm getting a strong hit of Dopamine in my locus ceruleus from the thought of the writing a thoughtful and well-received post here on the BB. I'm sure there are people here at lit who've suffered work and/or relationship problems relating to their internet use and their difficulty giving it up. And what about all the "real-life" social opportunities we miss when we "choose" to be here? (think about Marxist's question: would you choose to give up lit in exchange for a week solid of monkey-love? Most people said they'd choose lit. It's natural to think of that question as a hypothetical, but maybe I really AM giving up sex to write this long-winded dissertation that very few will read. )

As I see it, there's an odd paradox at play and I can't get my mind around it. People aren't really free-actors at all but nevertheless, the only effective long-term treatment for addiction is the 12-step method which emphasizes taking responsibility for one's illness. Likewise, I see the only effective long-term "treatment" for the "condition of life" is a similar decision to take responsibility. But how can one ever choose to act as if he's free even if he's not?

I don't know. Now where did my Camus go?

 

[BlondGirl]

Everyone I know who plays lotto does it with money they would blow anyway.
The people that I know who like to splurge and buy 100 tickets are doctors. (Just of the people that I know, mind you.)_Most people buy a few dollars with from money that would have gone to booze or eating out or other junk.
This is, of course, my opinion.

An angle that I haven't seen considered is the social impact. Many people do this in groups--it helps to solidify the wolf-pack at work. Dittos for families. Every guy my sister has dated over the last 9 years has played lotto with her as a weekly saturday ritual date--sounds like a really cheap date activity to me!

As for the whole addiction and devoting time to that activity as opposed to others idea, that happens with everything. Reading, studying, my art classes, work, church, cleaning my house, driving cross-country, etc. Every activity that we engage in requires that we do not participate in countless others.

 

[SINthysist]

The worst part about the lotteries is the shell game played by the state. Yes, the money goes to education on paper, but usually offset by a decrease in tax monies. So what you get is not an increase above and beyond what would have gone to education, but money alloted to other programs from the general budget that would have gone to education prior to the lotto.

PS, I once had a professor in a 400 level statistics course go over the astrinomical odds. Later we went for a beer and I bought some tickets. He looked at me and said something to the effect of, "Did you pay attention to what I just said in class?"

"Yeah, but I'm lucky," I replied.

 

[MacCortz]

All states with the worst educational records..........

Not to argue the quality of education issue... but states that take pride in the quality of thier education generally play the same nasty lottery type games.

The big winners are the lottery operators... The poor by the tickets, the lottery operators take the sizable saleries and with whats left the rich benefit from reduced tax..

Yet, it is the only hope of most poor people to ever become rich.

Just goes to show, it is better to be born rich than poor!

Take advantage of that in the future...