Lottery is a game of chance, where every person buying a ticket occupies the prospect of winning mammoth amounts from such raffle. The proceeds from the lottery are split three ways. One portion is used for the money expended in organizing the lottery during the other forms the lottery sum. The remaining amount is claimed as profits by the organization responsible for the operation of the lottery. Lotteries are legal in more than a hundred countries, and about 42 U.S. states. The state governments are the only organizations that reserve the rights to issue lotteries and make profits from them in the United States. Ever since lottery was reintroduced in the 1960’s the fame of the competition has scarcely declined. The American Association of State and Provincial lotteries declared that the citizens of the United States spent a sum of $50.4 billion on lotteries in the year 2009. The profits from lotteries in the same year amounted to $17.6 across the United States. People keep on spending with hopes to hit jackpot and the hopes and the fantasies of being victorious drive them towards addiction. A lottery can be bought by any person who is present in a state where lottery is legal regardless of whether or not he/she resides in that state. The lottery seekers often choose the lottery numbers themselves, and the practice of choosing the number quite often involves the consideration of significant dates in a person’s life.
Despite its worldwide acceptability, lottery brings along with it many tribulations that are quite hard to overcome. Lottery is very much like a gamble where no matter how many times a person loses, the prospect of getting lucky keeps one going and investing in these schemes, and therefore many people living from hand to mouth lose colossal sums to this venture. Lotteries also often become quite addictive, compelling their subjects to invest further and further. Also, since a lottery comes with a dream of hitting a jackpot, it promotes in people greed and insatiability and builds in them respect and yearning for money, and that longing often replaces love for people and for more important things in life besides money. In addition, a lottery signifies as well as promotes financial mismanagement of resources, and money that should be invested for rainy days is exhausted on buying a slim chance at becoming affluent. On the off chance that an individual gets lucky and wins millions, lottery promotes in people the belief that there are easy ways of earning money. This may encourage in them the laziness and cause inclination towards finding shortcuts in making money. In addition, if the lottery by any chance is rigged, it leads to the loss of so many of the poor people’s money. Plus, the lottery mostly takes from the poor, because the rich do not dream of scoring jackpots and getting immense wealth. It’s only those who are short of possessions who take hold of every chance they may find to get out of the misery of living with little to spare. Moreover, the profits from lotteries that we know are used for the peoples’ welfare could be mismanaged in the hands of the politicians.
But why do people take part in these schemes? This is a question that many of us are curious to identify the answer to. People mostly participate in these lotteries because for just a little bit of money; it affords an opportunity to win vast sums. The advertising also plays a vital role in encouraging people to spend in the game of chance despite the miniature odds of winning, and as of late, people are spending more and more to increase their odds of victory. Another main reason why people fall for the allure of lotteries is because everyone else is doing it, and due to the popularity of the choice, one, and all wish to become a part of it. What’s more, since people have become more accommodating to the existence of magic and fantasies, the likelihood of winning the lottery doesn’t seem like a farfetched idea anymore. In addition to everything else, the media have adopted the practice of broadcasting the identity of the winners on television and across other social media which draws in more participants every single day. According to recent studies, households that make $12,400 a year spend 5% of their net annual income on lotteries.
There are however various aspects to lotteries that aren’t all that appalling. Since the profits earned by the government through lottery schemes are used to fund several governments programs, it could take us as a nation several steps forward in economic development. It could also largely help the government in providing incentives to the less fortunate people of the nation. Also, every person who spends a dollar on a lottery tickets starts to imagine how his life might change in the event of him getting lucky. The dollar spent gives the lottery participant a chance to live his dream even for a short while; and in the midst of all the depression and agony in the world, I’d say that it is a change for the better. Also, for the people who become victors of the lottery schemes, life takes a turn for the better and the winners are able to provide for their families and doing so may help the family for not one, but several generations and may drag many out of poverty.
Among other states of the U.S., New York has the greatest knack for organizing gambling and lotteries Up until this day, the greatest Jackpot winning given away was for $336 million, while a total of a staggering $4billion has been paid as the prize money to date. The profits from the playing of lotteries in New York are mostly being used to fund the educational expenses of the children in the city. Along with the innovation brought about by the information technology, the gamble of lotteries has extended beyond national boundaries and people from different nationalities are coming together to compete in the game of luck and as the size of the lottery gets bigger, so do the winnings. The World Wide Web also provides us with opportunities to spend to raffles online.
In conclusion, lotteries at the national and the state level is not a bad idea and as long as the money is being used to help the economy and the weaker parts thereof, there is not harm to the practice. This is because where a number of families are getting an opportunity to turn their lives around; the profit is also used to fund various government programs that are intended for the benefit of the society. It is through lotteries that the education of so many children is being funded, and they are being provided with the opportunities to lead better lives than their parents did. Even though the negative effects of lotteries cannot be ignored, they could most certainly be overlooked for the benefit of the greater good.
Works Cited
Encyclopedia. Gambling: What's at Stake? 2009. <http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/lottery.aspx>.
Humphries, Lewis. The Good And Bad Of National Lotteries. 25 May 2012. <http://www.investopedia.com/financial-edge/0512/the-good-and-bad-of-national-lotteries.aspx>.
McIntyre, Douglas. The 10 States That Pay Out the Biggest Lottery Jackpots. 30 March 2012. <http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/05/03/lottery-states-biggest-jackpots/>.
NASPL. Remember to Play all Lottery Games Responsibly. 2014. <http://www.naspl.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=content&menuid=11&pageid=1016>.
Wilson, Jacque. Why you keep playing the lottery. 17 May 2013. <http://edition.cnn.com/2012/08/15/health/psychology-playing-lottery-powerball/>.
