The Issue Of The Lottery

The lottery to many people is an object of fiction, much as elusive as the unicorn; or the leprechaun's gold. They could buy a nice house, new car, pay off their loans, etc. Their life could be so much more comfortable. This is magical and all, but depending on the lottery is a gamble, and those dreams could easily be crushed if gambling becomes nationally illegal. No more boats or continental vacations or as much food as one can eat.

Up to 90% of adults in Australia have gambled at some point in their life.more statistics The promises made, were lies, and the same errors relapsed over and over again.We will be waiting when you can tell yourself there’s so much more to life than just gambling.We will be waiting for you gamblers to take a step back and think about the love ones whom you are destroying, but when will this happen? and will it not re- occur?. We now so well the difficulties in limiting money and/or time spent on gambling, which leads to adverse consequences for the gambler, their family or friends and for the community. The latest research suggests that about one per cent of the population has a gambling problem. These ranges from increasing levels of debt,

One major concern with gambling is the cause of problem gambling. Problem gambling is defined as “a progressive disorder characterized by a continuous or periodic loss of control over gambling; a preoccupation with gambling and with obtaining money with which to gamble; irrational thinking; and a continuation of the behaviour despite adverse consequences.” When one hears about the effects of problem gambling, and thinking about how easy it is for someone to develop problem gambling, they might often want the state to create laws that make gambling illegal. However, there have been many studies conducted on those individuals who do partake in gambling, and how many of those individuals who suffer from problem gambling as an effect of gambling do not in fact suffer from this. In Jonathan Wolff’s book Ethics and Public Policy: A Philosophical inquiry, a study conducted in the UK in 2000 and 2007, show that problem gambling had not increased as a percentage of gamblers, staying below one percent. The study that was conducted in 2007, includes online gambling, whereas the one conducted in the year 2000 does not. Nowadays, with the easy access to internet, online gambling has become more and more popular around the world, as people have the ability to gamble from anywhere they want. That

According to national surveys, 73% of British adults wagered on gambling activities (including National Lottery) in 2010 [2]. In some instances, this behaviour can become problematic and is characterised by persistent gambling that precedes gambling-related harms [6]. Whilst personal accounts of disordered gambling behaviour and harms related to specific gambling products have garnered a large amount of media exposure and research interest in the UK, the provision and understanding of treatment-seeking behaviour has received less attention. Conservative estimates indicate that approximately 1% of the UK population report gambling behaviour that warrants a diagnosis of either pathological gambling (ICD-10, [7]) or gambling disorder (DSM-5, [5])

In “The Lottery” there was were different kinds of conflicts that were shown throughout the story. All these types of conflict help create different moods and themes in stories. They give the reader a sense of excitement or it can even scare them depending on what is going on. In this story it all started off like it if was a beautiful peaceful town with people enjoying an event in the town square. Until all the problems started occurring and you started looking at the characters moods did you start to notice what was really wrong with everything.

The Relief and Escape Gambler is someone who uses gambling to make them happy. They will spend time gambling after anything stressful or if things aren’t going their way. The Compulsive Gambler is where Serious Social gambling often leads to. Gambling will consume them. They will start blowing off work, family and friends. Often times this will lead to criminal behavior to support the habit. Last is the Anti-Social Gambler. This person has already been living a life of crime, so robbery or fraud is nothing new to them. These people often fix games or cheat to win as well. Problem gamblers are usually Men, high rollers/large losses, with an income of less then $10K per year. The average debt of a problem gambler will exceed $55K or $15K for women. The divorce rates are twice as high, and suicide rates are twenty times higher for a problem gambler; in fact one in five problem gamblers will attempt suicide. Research done by Keith Whyte (Executive Director of National Council on Problem Gambling) shows; that gambling addictions are not about being greedy, but the act of “winning” is what they crave. “For someone with a gambling problem, money becomes less important” Says Whyte, “Money is the substance they abuse, but it’s the action of gambling that keeps them hooked”.

Gambling in the words of McLean and Yoder (2005) "means risking something of value, usually money, on an event that has an unknown outcome." In the opinion of the authors, gambling can assume various forms including but not in any way limited to "casino games, betting on sporting events, playing bingo, buying raffle tickets, and playing lotteries" (McLean and Yoder, 2005). Over time, gambling has grown in popularity with the same being legalized in many jurisdictions across the world. However, those opposed to gambling and the legalization of the same continue to cite various reasons in an attempt to backup their assertions. One of the reasons cited by those opposed to gambling according to McLean and Yoder (2005) is that the costs of gambling easily outweigh the benefits associated with the same. This argument advances the idea that the interests of the society override those of an individual. Thus the

With flashy slot machines and a high chance of winning big, gamblers have been tricked into the system. This eventually led to a service that targets these gamblers. These specific services assist those with gambling problems and find the best method to prevent gamblers from facing further trouble with their spendings. However, one might wonder why casinos would consider having a system like this. With the major cost for therapy and a returning customer with more money, casinos want to continue having repeat customers.Another method that help maintain these gloomy gamblers are compensation. When services are not enough to cheer them up, casinos have compensation for heavy gamblers and recovering gamblers. This results in an increase in repeat visits by the gamblers to use their discounts and rewards.Gamblers are profiting them and having these individuals come back continuously will surely benefit the casino. As a result, with these programs, casinos will continue to benefit themselves and their

“Current estimates suggest that three percent of the adult population will experience a serious problem with gambling that will result in significant debt, family disruption, job losses, criminal activity or suicide. Pathological gambling affects the gamblers, their families, their employers and the community. As the gamblers go through the phases of their addiction, they spend less

Studies show that while some individuals gamble for leisure, there is a population of individuals that use this opportunity to compensate for income inequalities.

You now know how dangerous gambling can be to society and what comes along with gambling. We have discussed what good comes from gambling, the negative effects of gambling, and why we should keep gambling out of society. I want to leave you with a story about a guy named John. He and his wife found out that their son was in trouble as a result of gambling. They bailed him out of jail for the price of $3,400. That was seven years ago. Since then, John has bailed him out of jail many times. His son has lost three jobs and his wife divorced him. His two small daughters often cry because he would rather spend time at the casino than spend time with them.

Gambling is the act of risking an object of personal value, usually money, for the chance of winning a greater reward. A gambling disorder, previously known as pathological gambling, is when gambling begins to take over all aspects of life affecting relationships, and work. The category that a gambling disorder should be classified under in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth edition (DSM-5) has been debated. Gambling disorder previously was classified as an Impulse Control Disorder, but in the new edition, DSM-5, it is classified as a Substance-Related and Addictive Disorder (Clark, 2014). The reason for debate on the topic was because of the characteristics of the disorder,

People gamble for many different reasons. Some want to gain a lot of money with little effort. For people who already have a lot of money gambling is something fun for them to do and gain more money than they already have. Some people even gamble as their lifestyle; it’s basically their job. Others, especially problem gamblers, seek thrill and excitement through games of chance (Legalized Gambling: Economic Boom or Social Bust n. pag.) In the United States there are 15 million Americans addicted to gambling and 23 million addicted to drunks or alcohol. For the people who are problem gamblers the simple cure to gambling and is just to stop going to casinos in most cases. Many gamblers love the feeling of adrenaline rushing through their money when they are playing more than the money they win. Gambling is an entertaining, and mostly harmless activity with plenty of benefits for the economy, society and the player. Gambling is a way for people to enjoy themselves and is becoming a popular form of tourism (“The Pros of Gambling” n. pag.) People go on vacations to

Human gambling often involves the decision to choose a low probability pay off, with the illusion of gaining quick and easy money, over a high probability pay off. This reflects a form of suboptimal choice behaviour. Suboptimal choice refers to the choice that does not result in the highest overall reinforcement one could achieve. The probability of actually winning is slim to none when gambling, but these behaviours are significantly popular. One of the most insidious behaviour humans engage in is compulsive gambling, which had been associated with several negative outcomes for the compulsive gambler and their loved ones. Thus, it is important to understand why humans make suboptimal choices and ultimately know how to reduce the probability of such choices to occur (Fantino, Navarro, & O’daly, 2005). Research on this topic aims to investigate the underlying mechanisms involved such as the environmental factors influencing suboptimal behaviour, and the behavioural process in making decisions.

Utilitarianism suggests that the act that results in the greatest amount of happiness for the greatest number of individuals is the option that we should choose. Whether gambling should be deemed as an ethical or unethical act depends entirely on the consequences and benefits gambling has on casinos, gamblers, and non-gamblers. If gambling results in the overall increase of a casino’s profit and the overall increase of a gambler’s profit and mental health, then the act of gambling would be considered ethical. However, if the act has more negative implications than positive, then the act of gambling would be unethical. For example, it would be unethical if the transaction between casinos and gamblers was rigged solely for the casino 's financial benefit while exploiting those who gamble there. The significant concern of this paper is not to point a finger at casinos and other gambling mediums as a means to blame them for the mental conditions of those who we’d consider as gambling addicts. Instead, the point of this paper is to acknowledge the effects of gambling and propose the importance of responsibility. I will present an unbiased view of gambling, paying close attention to the psychological effects and motives individuals have regarding gambling at casinos. Also, I will look at the positive results associated with having a successful casino business, so that allowing gambling is ethical from a utilitarian point of