lottery, a cruel tax on our poor and ignorant

[alocispepraluger102]

lottery, a cruel tax on our poor and ignorant Edited June 29, 2012 by alocispepraluger102

[JSngry]

Hustle, trap, sucker's game, yeah, I can see that.

But "tax"?

What is being taxed, exactly? A tax is something you pay (or are supposed to pay) whether you want to or not. Lotteries are totally voluntary, unless we subscribe to the theory that the poor and ignorant are devoid of free will.

[Ted O'Reilly]

Hustle, trap, sucker's game, yeah, I can see that.

But "tax"?

What is being taxed, exactly? A tax is something you pay (or are supposed to pay) whether you want to or not. Lotteries are totally voluntary, unless we subscribe to the theory that the poor and ignorant are devoid of free will.

How about "volunteered taxation"?

[Rooster_Ties]

When you've otherwise got no hope, then you might irrationally bet on your 'only' hope. I think actively targeting and selling lottery tickets to the poor could almost be thought of as cruelty.

For those with almost no other options other than a one in a million shot (and a random one at that), it's pretty disingenuous to essentially pray on people's hopes and fears, practically inciting them to give away some of what little discretionary moneys they might have.

[Rooster_Ties]

How about "volunteered taxation"?

[JSngry]

"Volunteer tax"? Really? How about "(in)discretionary income"?

I don't know about y'all, but I live in a fairly affluent suburb, and we get the same targeted advertisements as everybody else - and the same long lines the nights before/of the results.

I don't play. Won't play. But hey, if we want to find a causality between being poor and/or ignorant and playing the lottery, I don't think that playing the lottery would be the cause of being poor and/or ignorant, if you know what I mean... A fool and his money, etc.

"Cruelty"? Ok, let's have a state-sponsored lottery where your ability to participate is means-tested. The only way to luck into big bucks is to have a little extra pocket change in the first place. Let's see how that denial-of-hope game goes.

I don't like lotteries at all. It's a sucker's game, pure and simple. But that cow done left the barn years ago, found a break in the fence, done crossed over into the next county, and might be running towards the state line by now. Good luck getting it back.

You want to get indignant about targeting the poor and/or ignorant, go into the hood of your choice and look at the billboards up around schools and stuff. Alcohol, tobacco, all kinds of "over 18" products. No respect for hopes and dreams of the youth and stuff like that, all with ethnically-specific images. The lottery ads, otoh, are all the same ads. We got the same ones in Plano that they do in Oak Cliff that they do in Waxahachie that they do in the Third Ward.

Lotteries, at least as I've experienced them, are equal opportunity pickpockets. Sure, some people carry more cash than they can afford to lose in their pockets than others, but the pickpocket don't really give a damn who you are or how much you got.

[GA Russell]

When I was ten, I was "addicted" to buying bubble gum cards. You would buy a pack in wax paper, and then open it up and see what you got.

I believe that my friends who are in the habit of buying lottery scratch-off cards have the same addiction. You buy the card blind, and then scratch the coating off to see what you got.

[Chuck Nessa]

Any money not taken by state sponsored Lotteries would be sopped up by the numbers man at corner or barbershop.

[JSngry]

State lotteries are government-sponsored activities that are predicated on the random collection and random redistribution of individual citizens' funds. If the state excludes any citizen from participation on the grounds that they are too poor and/or too ignorant to participate in either the collection or the potential redistribution of these funds, the state is no longer sponsoring a truly public activity but is instead facilitating a discriminatory redistribution of funds among selected individuals.

Edited June 29, 2012 by JSngry

[thedwork]

as usual i don't know what the fuck alocispepralugar is posting about, and i'm pretty certain by this point that that's how he/she likes it.

as for the rest of the hand wringing - it's a fucking state lottery. it's a fucking dollar a week. nobody is becoming poor 'cuz they play a couple bucks a week to try to hit the mega millions. and you guys do understand that people actually win that thing every once in a while, right?

people don't become/stay poor because they blow a couple bucks here and a couple bucks there a week. they're poor because they make hundreds of dollars less per week on their paychecks than most other folks. getting/staying poor due to buying your morning cup of coffee at Dunkin' Donuts a couple times a week instead of making it at home is a myth wealthy people spin - and folks who are doing ok buy that myth. it makes the well off feel good that the poor are that way 'cuz they buy a lottery ticket once a week or their coffee at Dunkin Donuts every once in a while, and not because of the huge disparity between their weekly incomes.

also - in my experience, only people who have ever truly had money worries will understand what i've written above. the others, as they read this part of the post, have a deer-in-the-headlights glaze over their eyes and they don't know why. folks who have enough money not to worry about financial ruin being around the corner will not be able to relate to it. be glad if you're in the camp that can't comprehend...

Edited June 30, 2012 by thedwork

[alocispepraluger102]

"as usual i don't know what the fuck alocispepralugar is posting about, and i'm pretty certain by this point that that's how he/she likes it."

[Harold_Z]

As usual with things like lottery or gambling in general - the thing to remember is that if there is not a legal version there will be an illegal version right around the corner and readily available. This is also the case with prostitution, drugs, etc in addition to gambling.