The Rot Of The Lottery

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Many of us like to chip in a quid or few for the lottery in the hopes of winning big and splashing those winnings on expensive holidays, gifts, paying mortgages, insurances and bills, or going to town and squandering it all on shopping or a flashy ride or few. whether it's the National Lottery, EuroMillions, Thunderball or Set For Life draws-we constantly insert our impulsive urges to win it all. However, I don't think many people realize that besides minuscule odds of winning, and the amount of money we waste in pursuit of riches-that all the money that goes into the lottery could instead be used to improve our lives as a whole-but the reality is it's wasted on a rare glint of luck only very few people have the fortune of.

Do you think the lottery should even exist when so much good could come out of using the billions to help us and the world instead?

Reply 1

StriderHort

21

I think most people/players are well aware of the low odds and chance of winning, it's no secret.

What are you really asking here? For the lottery/all contests to be forcefully banned and shut down or peoples rights to spend money being curbed or nannied? Its a slippery slope to start talking about all the things you could do with other peoples money...

Reply 2

JDINCINERATOR

OP

21

Original post by StriderHort

I think most people/players are well aware of the low odds and chance of winning, it's no secret.

What are you really asking here? For the lottery/all contests to be forcefully banned and shut down or peoples rights to spend money being curbed or nannied? Its a slippery slope to start talking about all the things you could do with other peoples money...

I'm asking for people's views on whether they think the lottery is worth it considering the ample amount they likely spend on it years-money that could go to many more valuable things. I'm not asking for money to be taken away or controlled at all, I'm simply outlining an inherent issue with the lottery and how millions of people's money is wasted on it 6/7 days a week.

It's not a slippery slope to get people's opinion about the lottery though, unless questions shouldn't be asked. I'm not worried about taboos here, and this isn't a question regarding any taboos-basically it's about whether you think the lottery should even exist at all.

(edited 1 year ago)

Reply 3

StriderHort

21

Original post by JDINCINERATOR

I'm asking for people's views on whether they think the lottery is worth it considering the ample amount they likely spend on it years-money that could go to many more valuable things. I'm not asking for money to be taken away or controlled at all, I'm simply outlining an inherent issue with the lottery and how millions of people's money is wasted on it 6/7 days a week.

It's not a slippery slope to get people's opinion about the lottery though, unless questions shouldn't be asked. I'm not worried about taboos here, and this isn't a question regarding any taboos-basically it's about whether you think the lottery should even exist at all.

That's fair, it's just that asking if things should exist is obv a somewhat loaded question, as the lottery, associated organisations & many players are going to claim it should exist so the implication is you want to restrict them and others activities and freedoms by saying otherwise. However if you'd asked simply is the lottery a good use of your time and money I'd be able to easily give my opinion of no. (As a somewhat forced yet topical comparison, 'Israel is causing a lot of trouble and killing a lot of civilians, should it exist?' - now there's a question that will lower the temperature in a room)

I haven't checked but the numbers and frequency seem on the high side, someone that's playing significant sums of money on the lottery or any gambling product 6-7 days a week has a clear personal issue imo. Like if the lottery shut tomorrow or had never existed, I don't think those people would magically be making more altruistic or even better choices with money. Unless you're more talking about the fact they have lottery games of some sort most days now, but I feel the ship has sailed there as 24/7 online gambling is huge with billions sloshing about sports and gaming sites all day every day, even with it's various products and scratchcards the NL seems almost meek by todays market.

Reply 4

Gazpacho.

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The vast majority of players spend a tiny amount of their income on the lottery. It is unlikely an alternative use of that money will lead to any substantial improvement to their individual lives.

25% of the of National Lottery revenue is spent on good causes. Lots of small local charities depend the National Lottery grants. Is this not an example of good coming from The National Lottery?

Around £1 billion is raised each year in tax. What public services would you like to see cut or which tax would you like to see increased to accommodate the loss of tax revenue if the National Lottery did not exist?

Reply 5

Rakas21

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I breifly held a similar attitude to you OP but then i considered all the other things i waste small amounts of money on and decided that I could afford it.

The Rot Of The Lottery

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