Brandon Ferdig wonders whether his state of Minnesota should gamble on its citizens’ susceptibility.
This was previously posted on New Plateaus.
Part 1 was about the interesting psychology that gambling brings out in people. We also looked at those $30 scratch-offs and the mixed feelings that come with buying those things.
But while people have to wrestle with their own budgets and morals to see if gambling has a place in their lives, there’s another aspect of the Minnesota State Lottery that doesn’t get brought up too much: the State of Minnesota. Yet it’s a worthy aspect to examine … .
I grew up seeing the loon logo on print ads and hearing the loon cry on radio/TV spots. It was a regular part of my world—not a deviation that warranted concern. I even kind of liked the jingle. Thus, it was easy to recognize the good as a result of the state lottery: specifically, wildlife preservation and the tens of millions is raises for this cause each year.
But not too long ago, I wrote a piece about the moral hazard of using traffic tickets and other citations for general city/county/state budget use. In that case, I recognized that we needed lawbreakers, or else the budget won’t be met. Crazy.
In this article’s case, it’s about needing people to gamble.
And on billboard:
I’ve seen bus stops and buses themselves dressed in lotto promotion. The obvious reason for this is that bus riders are more likely to buy lottery tickets. But did we ever stop to think: Why as a state are we trying to get people who can least afford it to waste their money on lottery tickets!?
On their website http://www.mnlottery.com/ they tout the record-breaking tens of millions raised last year. But what are we cheering? That more people damaged their finances?
We got it all backwards.
It seems obvious to state that people are better off not gambling, but our reliance is so high and the state lottery is so embedded in our lives that we lose track of this and promote it.
Though the state would miss the money, the lottery is a big hit on countless individual’s personal incomes and savings. And these citizens—aka the taxpayers—of Minnesota, and thus the State of Minnesota, would be more prosperous if they used this money to spend and invest on truly worthwhile (and economy-building) activities. Without the lottery money pit, the economic pie could be a lot bigger.
But as a state, we don’t want this. We encourage, we advertise, we lure people to play the lottery. We’ve put ourselves in a moral bind that polarizes our wishes to help people live better lives while hoping they make a bad choice and gamble more.
The solution: don’t use gambling revenue for state budget purposes.
Read more on Ethics & Values.
Images courtesy of the author
I don’t like state-sanctioned gaming (doesn’t sound as wrong as “gambling”) either, whether it’s scratch-offs, machines or tables. Not only because I think it gives an air of respectability to something that is inherently wrong but mainly because it’s open-ended and is directed to those who can least afford it. If scratch-off tickets were a thousand bucks a pop I’d have much less objection to them. I don’t mind having gambling in Vegas or similar places and am probably about even over the years having both won and lost a few hundred bucks out there but I don’t like it… Read more »
Luck is the quintessential American catalyst for change & luck favors the prepared. The Horatio Alger Stories are bruted as tales of hard work and self reliance; but in each of them the hero is in the right place at the right time to halt the run away carriage and save the Mill Owner’s daughter. The book that has had the biggest impact on my pondering this year is Malcom Gladwell’s “Outliers” which includes an acknowledgement of luck in success. Last week I was treated to the “lucky sperm” concept- that if your parents are successful, you have a pretty… Read more »
I wonder what you think of the images of very obese people that the MN Lottery uses in these promotions, Brandon? Do you think they’re drawing a connection between being fat and not having self-control, therefore being susceptible to the sin of gambling?