Is the lottery a tax on the poor and where do you see gambling going in 10-20 years?

Question

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Answer 1

I don't see gambling going anywhere it hasn't already in the next 10-20 years and beyond... meaning there will always be a huge market for it, and no matter what you do to regulate it, people will find a way to gamble. It's been the same throughout history. If prostitution is the world's oldest profession, I'm sure bookies came in a close 2nd.

The allure of free money - the pure adrenaline rush that gambling offers - is as addictive to some as cocaine & heroin, regardless of class, economic bracket, or race. So no - I don't see it as a tax on the poor, especially when one enters freedom of choice into the equation.

Personally speaking, I think it's detrimental to not attempt to regulate it... ie. all the Indian Casinos that are sprouting up across the country. There's a large segment of society that would spend their money more wisely if it was simply less convenient to go blow it on the slots. The hardcore gamers wouldn't be deterred, but there's nothing you could do to stop them anyway. More than anything - it just sticks in my craw for the reservations to get a free pass, allowing them to ignore the rules of the rest of the nation and continue on as essentially sovereign nations, buried within our borders. I think it's time for the United States to be united in whole.

As far as the state lotteries go - at least the money goes to causes that benefit the state as a whole. Yes, the odds are atrocious, but to some, it's worth a buck a week to entertain the possibility of becoming rich overnight. I play on occassion - and while I never, ever expect to actually win, it's easily worth 100 pennies to me for the fun of a short-lived dream.

Answer 2

Though I do believe the lottery is almost always a waste of money, the state I live in (GA) has done so much because of the lottery. State funded pre-k being one, and medical for older folks. The lottery also funds a program that has help hundreds of thousands of people go to college. Gambling is like drinking-it is an addiction to some, past time for most. Why would it go away when there is so much money to be made? If we got too deep into it, we could blame food for the increasing number of obese people. It is a personal responsibility to not become addicted.

Answer 3

I think the lottery is false hope for the poor, but it remains a test of individual will to buy or not to buy into such a gamble. In this sense it is not a tax as it is not manditory to buy a lotto ticket.

I think gambling will continue to go as it has for the last few thousand years. Those naive enough to believe they can win despite insurmountable odds will make the owners of gambling instruments wealthy.

Answer 4

I have never seen anyone forced to play the lottery. Not once. Gambling is going to the reservations. The Native AMericans are getting their land back by screwing all of the old white ladies out of their money.

Answer 5

a lottery is a cash cow for governments, and the poor support this as some see it as the only way they will ever get anything, the old" if you do not buy a ticket you can not win" gets every one on the lottery wagon. I see lotteries continuing as long as some people are willing to buy the dream

Answer 6

A lottery is not a tax on the poor, who benefit from that tax anyway, by the way, but it is a tax on people who can't do math.

Answer 7

the lotteries are a tax on the mathematically challenged. the odds of winning are the worst. you might as well flush your money down the toilet.
but if the proceeds help offset my tax burden, by all means, keep buying them.

Answer 8

as religion has less influence on the masses,gambling will increase to where it is accepted in all 50 states.