Powerbull: The Lottery Loves Poverty

Gambling may seem harmless and an easy win with money, but it is really a tax on the poor and gives false hopes. The lottery and gambling is a tax on the poor in ways that people don’t see. As well as the tax, gambling gives people false hope.

When you think of the lottery, what do you imagine? Gold, A new house, maybe a car? This short story is nothing like you’re thinking. “The Lottery”, by Shirley Jackson, conveys its message through the use of diction, dialogue, irony, and theme. "The Lottery" first appeared in the New Yorker in 1948.

The lottery offers a wonderful opportunity to possibly win millions of dollars. While this might seems amazing, it might not be as wonderful as imagined. In fact, maybe even the opposite might true as stated by numerous studies and research done since the 1970s.

In her essay “Against the Odds, and Against the Common Good,” Gloria Jimenez asserts that states should not promote and advertize gambling. Jimenez lists many clever lottery slogans that are deceivingly interpreted. She also argues that these slogans advertise the advantages of gambling and playing the lottery because the money supposedly goes to things such as education and social service. Jimenez explains some arguments in favor of state-run lotteries, such as free participation and the creation of jobs, but argues that they are not relevant to the problem. She briefly touches on a statistic claiming that low income individuals are more likely to spend money on lottery tickets than their opposite, higher income

The lottery preys on the people it is supposed to be helping. It is funded through lottery players, which are usually low income minorities. One example that proves this is when Duke university economist Charles Clofelter and Phillip cook found that “ blacks, high school dropouts and people in the low income category” ( source D), are the heaviest

The lottery then and now. Why shouldn’t the lottery exist? Everybody has a tradition they fallow even if it’s been passed down from generation to generation, big or small, new or old, tradition is tradition. And especially nevertheless how weird it is, they still fallow whatever tradition they’ve known that’s been passed down to us. “The lottery” by Shirley Jackson is a perfect example of those “weird” traditions.

The author speaks to a panel of 6 professionals varying from different backgrounds. The question, do the lottery have an economic benefit, was presented to each panelist. Two members of the panel asserted a positive outlook on the economic benefit of the lottery use of funds in education, public safety, public health to name few examples. Four members of the panel indicated that the lottery is considered a regressive tax on the poor. They strongly suggest that the lottery is not an effective means of revenue for the greater

According to an article on the Alabama Policy Institute website, the same market forces that reduces Alabama’s tax revenue-putting the state in its current fiscal crisis-would have the same effect on a lottery. For example, during the Great Recession in 2008 to 2012, the revenues generated by lotteries for their states declined for an average of two years. Another economic decline would drive down revenues from an Alabama lottery, forcing the state to raise taxes and introduce more exciting and addictive games. Also with 95% of Americans already living in lottery states and many others living within a few hours’ drive from a lottery state, very few tourists would come to Alabama to play the lottery. This means that most of the lottery revenue will come from Alabamians resulting in a possible downfall for Alabama’s overall economy. For instance, other states have found that the discretionary incomes of residents that would have been spent on local businesses are instead being spent on lottery tickets, transferring large amounts of revenue away from local economies that would have used them to create jobs, goods and services. This is the opposite of the kind of economic stimulus a depressed economy needs. Also, lottery players are mostly poorer residents and lottery retailers are usually placed in minority neighborhoods. The lottery preys on those who can least

First, “lotteries are as American as apple pie. Historically, lotteries go back to Jamestown in 1612.” The lottery has been one of the ways that the government pays its bills. If you were to get rid of the lottery how would they pay for the rest of their bills? The government has used the money they have gotten from the lottery to pay off special project and construction. The continental congress even held lotteries to pay for the revolutionary war.

In today’s society we perceive the lottery as being a great fortune brought down upon you by Lady Luck. It is a serendipitous event, even if the person has done nothing to earn it. One would never see the lottery as an unfortunate occasion that occurred in your life because it is supposed to bring prosperity into your life. Also, one would not dare to think that winning the lottery would bring such repercussions as injury or death. In the short story “The Lottery” by Shirley Jackson, the author could have used Mrs. Tessie Hutchinson as the town’s scapegoat due to their reluctance to change traditions, her horrible work ethic, and minority status as a woman.

In the article, “Addicted to Lotteries”, by the Week.com, studies have shown that people are becoming very attracted to lotteries and are wasting their money on this useless game. The likelihood of a person winning the lottery is slim to none since so many people have purchased a ticket. More poor than wealthy people play the game because they are hoping to get a lot of money by winning. The poor people are uneducated so they don’t understand when to stop playing the game before they become addicted.

Those five minutes when you can’t breath, unsure of what to do or how you got the legendary ticket. The lottery can cause this to happen to a person. The lottery has changed many people’s lives rarely for the better. When a person inherits that large amount of money they start to see a lot more opportunity. The winner now has the ability to do almost anything they want to. The thing you can do with the money is either setting it up so it lasts or spending it all. When setting it up right, ideally people buy house and invest the money into places where it will grow. This way people don’t only support themselves but also the future generations. The money is able to make it so they later on in life loved ones don’t have financial issues. By doing

A lottery winner will begin to feel the need to flaunt their wealth because of their popularity. In result, a lottery winner will start buying flashy things for display and buying others overly expensive gifts to show how wealthy they are. Not considering the cost of their flashy and expensive objects, can cause a lottery winner to lose all their winnings in a matter of time. Therefore, the popularity given to a lottery winner isn’t beneficial because the fame and wealth results into dishonor and debt.

The debate on whether or not gambling should be regarded acceptable from a moral point of view has been ongoing for quite a while. However, one aspect of gambling that has been overlooked frequently has got to do with individual freedom. Ordinarily, people should have a right to choose whether or not to engage in gambling. Indeed, the freedom accorded to individuals to engage in activities of their choice as long as they do not interfere with the freedom of others can be regarded one of the key determinants of a truly free society.

Lottery is one of the best things that has ever happened to human kind especially those that dream high and but their dreams don’t come to life because they don’t have what it takes to make it happen. Lotteries are in various categories such as sweep stakes, scratch off, the Jackpot and even the green card lottery. The lottery that is being focused in this argument is the jackpot one. When individuals or people in general buy the lottery ticket their hopes are high, and they anxiously await with anticipation hoping to win. If they don’t win, they never give up, for they know that there is always next time and they keep playing. Some people urge that playing lottery is a bad idea because people end up getting