Friday, March 27, 2009

Day 27- $1 a day

Yes, I was a big $10 dollar winner yesterday on the lottery. But I would be remiss if I didn't share how I really feel about lotteries, because in my humble opinion lotteries are intimately tied to poverty. Here is my "logic model" for lotteries:

Lotteries are bullshit.
Why are they bullshit?

Because the people who spend the most money on lottery tickets are the people who can least afford to spend money on them.
Why do they buy tickets?

Because they hope and believe that the lottery is their only chance out of their dire financial situation.
Why do they think that?

Because they don't know how dismal the odds are of winning.
Why don't they know?

Because many low income people have not had the opportunity to stay in school or get a good education.
Why don't they get a good education?

Because research shows that "states that rely on lottery money for education actually end up spending less on education than they did when they used money from the state general fund."

So let me get this straight. The lottery in California-- which is supposed to benefit education-- gets most of its money from ticket purchases by low-income people who have benefited the least from education.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.