

Lotteries: America's $70B Shame - prostoalex
http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/05/lotteries-americas-70-billion-shame/392870/?single_page=true

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bitcuration
It was never about money. It's designed to offer a dream to those who cannot
afford not having one, therefore contrary to what the article author claimed,
poor especially needs lottery.

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MrZongle2
Sure, I was surprised to see the $70B value. I think I spent $10 at most on
lottery tickets last year, and those were stocking-stuffers at Christmas. I
have no trouble believing that some people spend a _lot_ more on lottery
tickets than I do, but.... _" shame"_?

Methinks somebody had a hard deadline at the _Atlantic_ and resorted to some
good old hand-wringing.

What's the author's point? That lotteries are evil because poor people spend a
disproportionate amount of their income on them, effectively wasting their
money? How does that differ from any other vice or form of entertainment?

Conveniently ignored are _how_ some of the state revenues are spent: in New
York alone, the state lottery contributed over $3B to education. I find it
hard to believe that none of that benefited the same communities that
supposedly spent "too much" on lottery tickets.

This article is fluff.

