Payday loans are criminal usury and are illegal in several states (as they should be), although lenders of course find loopholes at every turn. The lottery is an unsustainable revenue source, ultimately worsening state budget imbalances, but it shouldn’t necessarily be banned, because as you say no one is being forced against their will to play.
“Payday loans are criminal usury and are illegal in several states (as they should be...”
Most people have no clue just HOW usurious payday loans really are. I checked out a couple a few years ago when I thought I was desperate for a short-term loan. The signs tout an interest rate that seemed high but reasonable considering their clientele. However, by law in that state, they were required to show the annual percentage rate. There was in very fine print: 552%! I decided I wasn’t really that needy.
There were a few people in the place doing “roll-overs”, just paying interest. The loan place is more than happy to allow this to go on forever, if possible. The borrower doesn’t have to cough up the principal, and just forks over what seems like a piddling sum comparatively. Eventually this becomes like an economic slavery to the lender. And some, the more trustworthy, are allowed to pay interest-only on more than one loan.
Payday loan places should be illegal, and usury should be prosecuted as the crime it is.