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.

[SamAdams76]

Who's dumber? The person who bought a lottery ticket or one who invested in Enron?

Obviously people can make poor choices in the stock market. But you are comparing apples to oranges. Fact is the vast majority of people who invest in the stock market wisely and diversify their holdings end up winning over the long term while virtually everyone who plays the state lottery loses.

Look at the wealthy people in our society and you will see that they all have stock holdings and never play the lottery. That says it all right there.

[cake_crumb]

"You will submit to the will of the collective... /rant"

LOL...yep. (**best Borg voice**) Resistance is futile...you will be assimilated.

No one FORCES anyone to play the lotto. Stupid article...it ISN'T the state's job to protect people from themselves. That's not a "libertarian argument": it's common sense conservatism, one of the cor principles of which is responsibility for one's own actions.

[DWSUWF]

"...If I was Winston Smith I would rewrite that part of history at the Ministry of Truth..."

LOL!

Eventually we'll get that head of yours in a cage full of hungry rats where it belongs...

On a lighter note... My practice of buying a Powerball ticket for every drawing is cheap entertainment that occasionally is free entertainment.

By that I mean that one year I won enough of the tiny prize amounts to make every ticket I bought that year free.

I know this... If I keep MY OWN council, and buy the tickets, I do have a chance, albeit a vanishingly small one, of winning a sometimes enormous jackpot.

I'm also putting off the day when the government puts the gun to some poor bastard's head and demands the money in a non-voluntary mode. (I buy in a neighboring state)

If I were foolish enough to take the advice of those who love to hate the lottery however, my odds of winning anything drop to zero. My opportunity to have a little harmless fun drops to zero and the day that someone will be taxed for what the lottery brings in will be moved up.

I'll bet that at least half the sanctimonious lottery pooh-poohers buy tickets on the sly whenever they get a chance.

[SamAdams76]

That being said, at least the state's honest about a ticket buyer's chances of winning. Which is more than I can say for Wall Street.

I've been reading your posts and can see that you have quite a bone to pick with Wall Street. You must have lost your shirt.

My 401(k) took a 30% hit since 1999 but I can't really complain since it has generally registered double digit gains throughout the 1980s and 1990s. I'm still far ahead of where I would have been had I never invested at all. And this past year, I actually broke even as my contributions pretty much matched my losses. I keep only 40% of it in aggressive stocks and the other 60% is diversified in more conservative holdings. The key to successful investing is to research what you buy, spread it around riskwise and hold for the long term. I wish you better luck in the future.

[William Terrell]

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

What's wrong with a stupidity tax? I'd be more concerned about a stupidity reward, such as our evolving socialism indulges in.

[RKV]

You are right, the author of this tripe is not making a libertarian argument at all. Funny that they would say they were when they were arguing against individual liberty and responsibility. I guess I could make sense of an argument against the state sponsoring vice, but then it does now (e.g. welfare for the poor = theft from the productive).

[SamAdams76]

At the STATE level, the government's role is whatever the people decide it is, with certain civil liberties limitations. The people can certainly decide that "acting as bookie" can be a role of state government--all they have to do is modify their state Constitution to allow it.

Agreed. But as a citizen of such a state, I can be in opposition to it. Which I am.

[11th Earl of Mar]

But I do like the fact that the lottery is the only voluntary tax we have.

Tobacco and Alcohol? Vanity and Theme License Plates

I stand corrected.

[RKV]

"I'll bet that at least half the sanctimonious lottery pooh-poohers buy tickets on the sly whenever they get a chance."

WAY TOO TRUE. Harmless fun for me, but not for thee. This illustrates a major problem with nominal conservatives today. They are way to willing to impose their morals on others where there is no direct impact on their own life, rights or property.

[SamAdams76]

I agree with what you say in #39 and will go further to say that if not for the state lottery, the poor people will find something else to blow their money on. That's why they are poor people. But you are missing my argument. My argument isn't anti-gambling. There could be a casino on every street corner for all I care. I just don't think the proper role of government is to run a gambling operation. Especially when making it illegal for everybody else (as Massachusetts does).

[cake_crumb]

"I figure it's better than buying another bottle of soda pop and I might just get lucky, but I ain't holding my breath."

Good point. How many people buy a bottle of soda when the company runs a sweepstakes, in the hopes of winning at least a free bottle?

If people are too poor to buy lotto tickets, they shouldn't buy them. One of the best rules of thumb about gambling is : NEVER place a bet if you NEED the money. This advice comes from someone who rarely ever gambles, but wins more often than she loses.

The final proof of the complete socialist idiocy of this article is that rich people have more money to buy tickets. BELIEVE me, the rich are just as eager to play the lotto as any "poor" person. (how does the author define "poor, anyway?) I know several people who drop a couple of hundred bucks a week on it. Hey, they can afford it - so the argument that the lotto is somehow a "burden" on only the poor, as if the rich don't waste big bucks just like the poor is completely bogus.

[RKV]

Agreed, the state should not profit from vice - like getting revenue from booze or tobacco.

[Elsie]

You say this like it's a BAD thing!

So, the poor 'poor' people are the ones wasting their money; it's a 'stupidity' tax; it's a lesson in math for the numerically challenged and all of folks who 'know' better should not have let this happen.

There -- did I cover all the bases?

There is MORE going on here.

1. Socialized government spending has gotten out of hand.

2. Transfer of MORE funds from the 'producers' to the non-prodfucers may cause a backlash,

3. The 'overseers' of this monetary boondoggle have LOTS of 'free' cash to spend on perks,

4. Here is a chance to get those dollars BACK that got sent out as: Welfare, Food Stamps, WIC, Section Eight rental loot.

5. So when mama, with her 4 WIC babies in tow, pays for better food than YOU eat with FoodStamps, and then heads for the Lottery Machine with real MONEY in hand, don't blow TOO big of a fuse ranting at her: rant instead at the wonderful system we have bought ourselves.

[SamAdams76]

I don't know of any "rich" people who would waste money on the state lottery with its millions to one odds (of winning the big prize). I define rich, by the way, as people who are financially independent and don't have to work for a living (they make enough from their investments to live on). And it's not like the lottery is "fun" to play. There's nothing fun about it. Picking 6 numbers out of 30 and then waiting to see if they come out (a 10,000,000 to one chance) is just not a rich person's idea of fun.

Of course the rich are capable of blowing money from time to time. But they tend to have more fun doing it such as taking a cruise to the Carribean or if they are in the mood for gambling, going to Las Vegas.

[Fireone]

"State lotteries, like state cigarette taxes, fall on the portion of the populace that is least able to afford the burden."

Is it because I don't buy lottery tickets and don't smoke that I have some money, or am I running so fast that the taxes don't "fall" on me? What color is the sky in your world? Voluntary taxes are only paid by the volunteers!

[Vigilantcitizen]

"I just don't think the proper role of government is to run a gambling operation. Especially when making it illegal for everybody else (as Massachusetts does)."

I can agree with that point. Here in Georgia, we have lotto but no casinos. Georgians by the thousands drive to Mississippi or North Carolina, with their money, and spend it in casinos. I don't see the difference between the two and wished we had a casino here.

As far as government sponsored gambling goes, at least Georgia puts a percetage of lotto proceeds into improving schools and scholarships. Lotto money paid for my education so I don't mind dropping a dollar every now and then.

Of course, this fact is left out of the numerous"Lotto exploits the poor" articles I read in the local papers.

All this gambling talk reminds me, I gotta call my bookie before the 11 am games come on.

[R. Scott]

I know that the odds of winning are extreme – the local one is around 17 million to one.
I know that the chances of winning with one ticket are essentially the same as winning with a hundred tickets – slim to none, but there is that ever-so-slim chance of winning.
Because of that slight chance, I will buy one ticket a week when the pot gets up to around 5 or 6 $Million, that way the lump sum payoff will be over a $Million, and actually be worth while.
Do I think I’ll actually win?
Heck no, but I do have some fantastic dreams that night.
I do feel a touch of …sorrow?…anger?…sympathy?… for the people I see trying to figure out the next winning number combination, and buying tickets twenty or more at a time – thinking they will increase their odds of winning by buying a lot of tickets. I’ve even tried to explain the math of odds to some, and they would nod their heads and say they understand – then buy twenty of thirty tickets, because it gives them more chances of winning.
More very slim-to-none chances.

I don’t really like the articles I read about how State lotteries rip off the poor. It implies that someone should be allowed to step in and manage their money for them. It is along the same line of those who are against neighborhood bars – because they generally attract the lower income people, the wealthier people generally go to theme bars.
It is elitism in its purest form.

[R. Scott]

“But I do like the fact that the lottery is the only voluntary tax we have.”

“Tobacco and Alcohol? Vanity and Theme License Plates?”

You forgot the tax on high-end cars and other non-necessities.

[antaresequity]

As the article points out, state lotteries give much worse odds than even that bookie down at the barber shop

Aside from that, ponder these facts about the latest powerball hoopla [figures are rough...but it serves the point]:

All Players All Income 787.00 Million
Avg Income Tax [20%] -157.50

State Lottery Income 630.00

State Lottery Gross Profit -315.00
State Lottery Penalty -145.00
State/Fed Tax 33.5% -57.00

Winners proceed 113.00
Winners proceed as % %14.30

Government proceeds 674.00 Million

In my opinion the biggest story about the latest Lotto craze was untold. From sweat to ticket, Americans shelled out approximatley 787 Million dollars into this ponzi scheme. The government kept 674 Million by virtue of their monopoly.

And to add insult to injury, If the winner was to die, the governement would take yet another 56.5 Million dollars from the family.

I don't know about you guys, but I really think that this country is screwed if we cant see the injustice in our present governemnt...pretty sad...

[R. Scott]

“Of course the rich are capable of blowing money from time to time. But they tend to have more fun doing it such as taking a cruise to the Caribbean or if they are in the mood for gambling, going to Las Vegas.”

Good point.
As I am not financially able to cruise or take a Vegas holiday, I’ll spend a buck on a lottery ticket.