Is Playing the Lottery a Tax on the Stupendous?
In a lottery, a prize is allocated to one or more people in a random way. The chances of winning are extremely low. Often, the prizes are cash amounts, or goods. A lottery is a form of gambling, but it is not illegal. It is also not socially acceptable in some places, and it can be addictive. Many states have lotteries to raise funds for public projects. In colonial America, these included canals and bridges, libraries, colleges, schools, churches, and militias. Lotteries helped fund the American Revolution, and they played a major role in financing the American colonies in the years before independence.
The idea that lottery playing is a “tax on the stupid” has long been used to criticize state-run gambling. This argument, argues David Cohen, ignores the fact that lottery sales respond to economic fluctuations, increasing when incomes fall or unemployment rises. It also fails to acknowledge that the lottery is promoted most heavily in neighborhoods that are disproportionately poor, Black, or Latino. It is no surprise that many people spend a substantial portion of their incomes on tickets, Cohen says.
People who play the lottery are sinning against their own self-interest, writes Shirley Jackson in her short story The Lottery. She tells the story of a group of villagers who attend a lottery drawing in a remote American village. The event is a social occasion in which the villagers gather, and they greet each other and exchange bits of gossip, even as they prepare to draw lots for their own lives.
At first, the villagers do not expect anything of value from the lottery. They simply hope to be the lucky winner. The event is a reminder of the deceitful nature of human beings and the ways in which they can twist the truth to suit their own purposes.
In the United States, a person who wins a lottery can choose whether to receive annuity payments or a lump sum payment of a smaller amount, after withholding taxes for federal and state income. If a winner chooses the lump sum, the amount is substantially lower than the advertised jackpot, because of the time value of money.
Some people support the lottery because they think it is a harmless and morally acceptable way for governments to collect taxes. Others, like those who support heroin legalization, argue that if people are going to gamble anyway, then the government should get the profits. But both arguments misunderstand the nature of addiction and the psychology of gambling, and they miss the point that lottery advertising is a form of bribery. Its purpose is to keep players coming back for more, and its strategies are not that different from those of tobacco companies or video game makers. These tricks are nothing to be ashamed of, but they should not be endorsed by government agencies that purport to promote the welfare of its citizens. They are, after all, selling a product that is very damaging to those who play it.
