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I'm always outraged when I see NY Lotto ads on the subway. This is just a way to profit off people who don't understand math and have some sort of addiction.

by ada1981 9y ago

I'm always outraged when I see NY Lotto ads on the subway. This is just a way to profit off people who don't understand math and have some sort of addiction. It's a poor tax. I once saw an ad that said something like "if you are putting in your resume to be a door man, it's time to play the lottery"!!!! Not, time to go back to school, time to vote for better income redistribution, not good for you for looking for work -- no, the city decided to trivialize unemployment and poverty AND make the claim playing the lottery is better than hunting for a job. Regulation seems to be about limiting who gets to extract the profit from the poor, not protecting the poor / the people.

toss1 9y ago
I prefer to think if it as an Innumeracy Tax. A friend once commented on the subway advert that went: "All you need is a dollar and a dream" His comment was: "We'll keep the dollar and you keep the dream".
Karunamon 9y ago
I find this offensive in many ways. The chance of winning the lottery might be minuscule, but minuscule is still infinitely larger than zero. On top of that, you don't have to hit the jackpot to win life-changing money. Powerball odds for a 10k/250k prize are 1 in 913K, and for a 1M/2M prize, 1 in 11M - much better than the jackpot prize's odds of 1 in 292M. Many people are totally okay with coughing up $2 every now and then for raising their chances from 0/infinity to 1 in a million or few.
- ada1981 9y ago
  You are offended by what, exactly? That lotteries are a tax on the poor (who often cite gambling as a legitamit retirement investment option!)? And you actually DON'T raise your chances, at all. The odds are actually in favor of you lowering your standard of living by whatever you are spending on lottery tickets. Look at the statistics on where the bulk of the money comes from for lotteries -- the poor, often people who can't afford food for their children. It's offensive that a democracy would run state lotteries and advertise them to its most vulnerable people.
  - Karunamon 9y ago
    I'd be very curious about what kind of statistics you have that show a significant decrease in standard of living for $2 lottery tickets.
    - ada1981 9y ago
      Well, on average people who make $13,000 / year spend about 9% of their total income on lotteries. It skews higher for non-whites. For people who make 100k a year they spend about $300 a year on lotteries. Many states generate more revenue from lotteries than by taxes, so this is a regressive hidden tax effectively. States also tax ticket sales for lotteries at close to 40% so it's also the worst investment tax around. Lotteries are used by states to generate money from vulnerable poor populations and move that money back up to support other programs that wealthier folks enjoy. Here is an indepth article outlining more. Unfortunately some of the links are broken, but I will update you if I find the base research studies mentioned. http://www.alternet.org/hard-times-usa/disturbing-facts-about-state-lotteries-they-prey-poor-and-trash-economy-and-political http://www.alternet.org/hard-times-usa/disturbing-facts-abou...
    - ada1981 9y ago
      Well, on average people who make $13,000 / year spend about 9% of their total income on lotteries. It skews higher for non-whites. For people who make 100k a year they spend about $300 a year on lotteries. Many states generate more revenue from lotteries than by taxes, so this is a regressive hidden tax effectively. States also tax ticket sales for lotteries at close to 40% so it's also the worst investment tax around. Lotteries are used by states to generate money from vulnerable poor populations and move that money back up to support other programs that wealthier folks enjoy. Here is an indepth article outlining more. Unfortunately some of the links are broken, but I will update you if I find the base research studies mentioned. http://www.alternet.org/hard-times-usa/disturbing-facts-about-state-lotteries-they-prey-poor-and-trash-economy-and-political http://www.alternet.org/hard-times-usa/disturbing-facts-abou...
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]

toss1 9y ago

I prefer to think if it as an Innumeracy Tax. A friend once commented on the subway advert that went: "All you need is a dollar and a dream" His comment was: "We'll keep the dollar and you keep the dream".

Karunamon 9y ago

I find this offensive in many ways. The chance of winning the lottery might be minuscule, but minuscule is still infinitely larger than zero. On top of that, you don't have to hit the jackpot to win life-changing money. Powerball odds for a 10k/250k prize are 1 in 913K, and for a 1M/2M prize, 1 in 11M - much better than the jackpot prize's odds of 1 in 292M. Many people are totally okay with coughing up $2 every now and then for raising their chances from 0/infinity to 1 in a million or few.

ada1981 9y ago
You are offended by what, exactly? That lotteries are a tax on the poor (who often cite gambling as a legitamit retirement investment option!)? And you actually DON'T raise your chances, at all. The odds are actually in favor of you lowering your standard of living by whatever you are spending on lottery tickets. Look at the statistics on where the bulk of the money comes from for lotteries -- the poor, often people who can't afford food for their children. It's offensive that a democracy would run state lotteries and advertise them to its most vulnerable people.
- Karunamon 9y ago
  I'd be very curious about what kind of statistics you have that show a significant decrease in standard of living for $2 lottery tickets.
  - ada1981 9y ago
    Well, on average people who make $13,000 / year spend about 9% of their total income on lotteries. It skews higher for non-whites. For people who make 100k a year they spend about $300 a year on lotteries. Many states generate more revenue from lotteries than by taxes, so this is a regressive hidden tax effectively. States also tax ticket sales for lotteries at close to 40% so it's also the worst investment tax around. Lotteries are used by states to generate money from vulnerable poor populations and move that money back up to support other programs that wealthier folks enjoy. Here is an indepth article outlining more. Unfortunately some of the links are broken, but I will update you if I find the base research studies mentioned. http://www.alternet.org/hard-times-usa/disturbing-facts-about-state-lotteries-they-prey-poor-and-trash-economy-and-political http://www.alternet.org/hard-times-usa/disturbing-facts-abou...
  - ada1981 9y ago
    Well, on average people who make $13,000 / year spend about 9% of their total income on lotteries. It skews higher for non-whites. For people who make 100k a year they spend about $300 a year on lotteries. Many states generate more revenue from lotteries than by taxes, so this is a regressive hidden tax effectively. States also tax ticket sales for lotteries at close to 40% so it's also the worst investment tax around. Lotteries are used by states to generate money from vulnerable poor populations and move that money back up to support other programs that wealthier folks enjoy. Here is an indepth article outlining more. Unfortunately some of the links are broken, but I will update you if I find the base research studies mentioned. http://www.alternet.org/hard-times-usa/disturbing-facts-about-state-lotteries-they-prey-poor-and-trash-economy-and-political http://www.alternet.org/hard-times-usa/disturbing-facts-abou...
deleted 9y ago
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