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Funding the public education system is a good thing and a similar system exists in California: https://www.calottery.com/who-benefits https://www.calottery.com/
by stygiansonic 6y ago
Funding the public education system is a good thing and a similar system exists in California: https://www.calottery.com/who-benefits https://www.calottery.com/who-benefits
However OPs point about mostly lower socioeconomic groups funding the lottery is still relevant as it raises questions about whether this pseudo-regressive “tax” is a fair way to fund a public good like education.
- ghaff 6y agoIn all fairness, in the US--at least where I live--the bulk of education funding comes from property taxes which is presumably progressive. (There is a different criticism that this leads to wealthier towns having better education. Which is probably true at some level although there isn't a lot of correlation between per pupil spend and educational outcomes in a given area.)
- scarmig 6y agoProperty taxes aren't progressive: although they're levied on individuals who tend to be well-off, a significant proportion of those costs end up passed on to renters. Additionally, poorer people tend to spend a larger portion of their income on housing (be it rent or otherwise) than the rich.
- ghaff 6y agoThat's fair enough and probably depends on the housing prices in a location. Wealthier people tend to own more house but it may still be a smaller portion of their income, depending upon where they live.