Truthfully, lotteries do harm the poor. However, there might be a way around this, with a “faux lottery” that actually helps the poor.
States usually use lottery profits for some statewide program, like education. However, with some tailoring, lottery proceeds from poor neighborhoods might be skimmed off and used exclusively to improve those neighborhoods.
On the surface they would look like a normal lottery, but it could be used for all sorts of things that would directly benefit the people who lived there.
An example would be to set up a local farmer’s market, run by the locals, with artificially low prices for food.
But it would turn a ripoff into something good for the dimwits who play the lottery.
On the surface, that’s a really good idea. But you don’t need a lottery to gather money from a neighborhood to return money back to the neighborhood (after someone takes a cut for “administration costs”). You just need an organizer to do the job. Dare I suggest a “community organizer”?
Truth be known, the lottery isn’t the problem. It’s just a symptom of the problem. The problem is that we have taught generations of people of all races that they can get something for nothing.
At least once per semester, I ask my classes whether any of them would like to be a millionaire. I then show them how they can use the same amount of money as most Texans waste on lottery tickets and grow it into a million dollars over their projected lifespan. And I’m lucky if one student per year actually gets excited by the idea. Most aren’t willing to look that far forward.
My concern is that you might be correct.