4 ms·

Corner stores make their profit on tobacco, alcohol and scratch tickets, though. The rest of it is just to give a patina of respectability.

• sokoloff 11y ago
  That's an excellent point. The lottery aspect does bug me a lot. (Though my "regular" grocer also has lottery, tobacco, and beer/wine, so I don't think the bodega is worse than the other grocers in that regard.)
  • CydeWeys 11y ago
    The lottos are state-run though. Don't blame the bodega owner, blame the government for financially preying on poor people who are bad at math in the first place. I don't think you can really criticize someone too much for selling something that the government plays ads for on the radio.
    • pmiller2 11y ago
      > bad at math It's not primarily that people are bad at math. It's that they don't see any other way out. I've seen data that show that people play lotteries "for money" at higher rates the lower their income is. I can't find the exact citation, but here's a CMU article about study that shows something similar: http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/July/july24_lottery.shtml http://www.cmu.edu/news/archive/2008/July/july24_lottery.sht... We really just need to end state-run lotteries. The problem is that the states depend on this regressive tax for revenue.
      • CydeWeys 11y ago
        One interesting argument I've seen is that there is a serious demand for lotteries and gambling, and that making them illegal won't stop them (as it hasn't for drugs or prostitution). Instead, it just creates a black market for gambling, which is even more problematic than a well-regulated state one with a predictable and reasonable house rake. We may be trying to fight the human psyche itself here, for which making things illegal tends not to work. But at the very least the states shouldn't be advertising the damn things!
      • Axsuul 11y ago
        Ending state lotteries is just another form of prohibition. It's part of human nature and population will still end up participating in alternative get rich quick schemes.
        • chillwaves 11y ago
          Then make them more fair with better payouts. They don't need to be completely exploitative.
          • vectorjohn 11y ago
            A non exploitative lottery is also called a bank.
            • CydeWeys 11y ago
              Interesting that you mention that. Such a thing exists, is fairly widespread in some countries, and is quite successful at encouraging the correct behavior: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prize-linked_savings_account https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prize-linked_savings_account Basically, every so many dollars that are in a savings account for a set period of time counts as one ticket, and so of course the way to increase your chance of winning is to "buy more tickets". Winnings are paid out in lieu of interest, but in the end averages to about the same.
        • chillwaves 11y ago
          Then make them more fair with better payouts. They don't need to be completely exploitative.
• bluedino 11y ago
  Don't forget food stamp fraud.