This question is about the real lottery games that are out there like PowerBall, MegaMillions or whatever name they may use where you live. Do you participate in them, and if so how often? Do you believe the lottery is a vice like gambling, or is it a mechanism for putting money back into the community? If you were to win the lottery, what would you do?
I play the lottery very rarely, and it is usually when the jackpot is very large and everyone else seems to be playing it. I have often dreamt about what I would do with such a large amount of money, and I know that after paying off debts, giving to family and friends, etc, I would donate a fair amount to charity. I see the benefits of local lotteries and how much money they generate for local causes such as education, so I am not concerned about it being a vice. I have also seen cases where people are addicted to the lottery and it consumes them just like a gambling habit.
International Level: Envoy / Political Participation: 241 24.1%
I personally don't because I do see it as a form of gambling. I can't completely condemn the lottery because it is because of the state lottery that I get the Bright Future's Scholarship. When I'm not attending the private college, it'll be paying for 75% of my tuition.
I don't agree with betting and gambling, but it is good to see people using it for positive causes rather than just selfish greed.
I don't play the lottery. As one talk radio host put it, the lottery is a "tax on stupidity". It is gambling, and states use the "education" argument only to get the citizens to allow it. Only a tiny fraction of the income goes to the schools, the rest goes to the state to be used in the general fund.
International Level: International Guru / Political Participation: 854 85.4%
I think the chances of winning such lotteries are very slim, unless you're betting on a horse to win the race, and that depends on how much you know. I don't think it is as much gambling because you know what the minimum is, and that is a ticket price. You can't get negative money (well, that's unless you play lottery in this forum ). But still, it is highly improbable to win most of the lotteries.
International Level: Activist / Political Participation: 29 2.9%
LOTTERY ADDICTION CAN KILL, CORONER SAYS
A coroner in Quebec is calling for tighter rules on the sale of lottery tickets after the suicide of a Montreal-area man.
Ref. https://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/20...de20060110.html
I really dislike when a "sensational" story preys on one of our "social evils" to prove a point. People like the man who killed himself have far more problems than playing the lottery. Someone with a clear mind does not run through their savings playing a game that they will not win. That is an addiction and very likely another form of mental illness present as well. I play the lottery when it's really high or when the mood strikes me. Do I really think I'm going to win? No. Do I have plans to fund a lot of struggling establishments and businesses? You bet! I'd have scholarships set up all over the place and everyone I know would be able to send their children to the school of their choice. Does that make me a gambler? No -- I don't believe so. It's a goods and service-type scenario. You want the chance to win the money, so you purchase a ticket. You do so because it is not all -that- regulated and there is no security check or mental health application to put down a dollar at a chance to win millions. We all want to point to something as the cause of our social downfall when it's really more likely that the problem is not in our wallets but in our hearts. It's a shame.
International Level: Politics 101 / Political Participation: 1 0.1%
If someone kills themselves over the lottery, then the lottery was never their real problem to begin with. Its just a game and people can go over board with it like anything else. Someone can spend all their money on buy things and go broke, its all relative to your amount of self control. If you can't control yourself, you will spend it on something else.
I do play the lottery occassionally. Like casino gambling, I never lose money I can't lose. Its a game thats fun to take a chance on when you have the extra money to lose. I consider it a form of entertainment and treat that dollar like its gone, like an arcade game, movie, or casino game.