With the invention of The Lotto, the government become a bookie. The state is now a purveyor of legalized gambling. Proponents tie the organization to positive benefits like funding schools and other governmental activities like parks.
But where does that money come from? People who gamble, methinks.
Governments have turned gambling into, what I like to call, “unfair taxation of the stupid.”
When I grew up, gambling was something that was far away. If you wanted to gamble you had to travel to places like Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Monte Carlo, etc.
Now, in my hometown, the state has lottery machines in every bar and a lot of restaurants. If I wish to gamble I merely need to walk a single block in any direction.
Sunday morning I went out for breakfast. As we walked up to the restaurant at 9:00 a.m. a drunk dude had stumbled out of the lounge for a smoke, apparently to whet our palates before our meal. At least he has gambling devices in there for his “entertainment,” I thought.
I especially love the commercials run by the state to promote their lottery. (So we know not all of the proceeds go to the land of goodness. A lot of dollars are spent on advertising. And, no doubt, admin.) After hawking their product they add, as an afterthought, “For entertainment purposes only. Please gamble responsibly.”
The state spends a lot of money combating the problem of gambling addiction. I know I’m not the only one who finds it ironic that the state drinks from both ends of that well. Mixed messages much? “Gambling is bad but do buy our lotto tickets.” And our society sees this as a viable solution for any sort of problem? Wow. Inconceivable.
To borrow and modify a political phrase: A society can’t gamble its way to prosperity.
When Native Americans began to benefit from gambling and casino games, I didn’t object. They are more than entitled. And if people want to exercise their right to hand over their wallets, so be it. I certainly won’t object. Casinos on Native American lands are also an imperfect solution, and there are problems with that solution, but I can live with them in this one particular case.
Now a business venture wants to modify the law (through the initiative process) to gain the right to run a casino as a commercial enterprise. They are not Native Americans. They simply seek the right to run a casino to make a profit. They want to bring Vegas to our desert. And they have been running a blitzkrieg advertising campaign to convince the voters to give them permission.
Their ads claim their casino will create “2,000 permanent jobs with health care” and wouldn’t cost the taxpayers a penny. They also claim they will provide $100 million a year for schools. (Ah. That old ploy worked for the state, so why not us?)
This made me curious. How much money would the good people of this state have to experience in gambling losses in their casino to pay for those jobs?
I used $50k as an estimate for each full-time employee. That’s probably a low estimate. And it doesn’t include administration costs. For 2,000 such employees the cost of compensation to the casino would be $100 million per year.
I used 20 percent for an estimate of payroll costs as compared to overall revenue. In other words, the casino would have to bring in $500 million per year to justify spending 20 percent (or $100 million) on employee payroll costs.
They want $500 million from the people of this state to support their business model while claiming that it won’t cost “taxpayers a penny.” How quaint.
No doubt these estimates are tinker toy simplistic and underestimate the real picture. But let’s just say they are accurate enough to ask this question: How long would you give someone $1 for 20 cents in return?
Simple math exposes these ambitious entrepreneurs as garden variety assholes. It’s bad math. It’s a bad deal.
Well, all that may good and I know it’s true. But, I have to say, sometimes, spending a $1 on a lottery ticket surely can get me dreaming a little bit and get me out of whatever funk I may be in. I think of it as $1 for a few hours of therapy. But, I’m not a gambler anyways…so I know you’re right and I agree!
You’re right, of course. One lotto ticket, every now and again, can be funky. Tom’s Law #42 states, “You can’t win the lotto if you don’t buy a ticket.”
I also figure $1 once in a while is okay. I’d even do it weekly but I really only think about it maybe once a year. So that’s my $1 voluntary contribution to the overall good of society. Don’t anyone try to tell me I don’t care!
I don’t dream. But I do know what I would do if I won $1 million or more in the lotto. I call that “life changing” money. $50,000 would still be nice, but it wouldn’t be enough to transform my existence. If I did win life changing money, though, I’d be smart and fix things so I never had to take orders from an asshole boss ever again.
OK, maybe I do dream just a little.
Sound the trumpets… we agree!!!!
To discourage you even more (or am I actually supporting your pessimism), let me tell you how it works in Georgia.
By law, half the money taken in goes into the pot for the winners. The lotto funds our Hope Scholarship for College as well as the K-12 schools and certain teacher grants (http://www.galottery.com/education). That may sound grand to many, BUT not all those funds go toward schools and scholarships. One third of the half after winnings (1/6) goes toward education. There is the standard off the top for advertising, administration, supplies (paper), and electronic fees; another third of the half = 1/6. Still acceptable to many. Here is the kicker: the funds (profit) are actually placed into the “general fund” from which they say schools got their portion, (but how can that be proven). Sadly, it is all sold to the public as millions of dollars supporting the schools – schools that are woefully lacking and in the bottom of the nation. (PS: GA has one of the largest homeschooling populations in the US for a reason.)
Fighting the desire to digress off the lottery topic onto public schools… OK, lotto….
If you caught on to the math earlier, only 1/6 or less than 17% actually goes toward education programs. And all this is in the laws. For those of you who were paying attention to the math, there is still almost 17% unaccounted for that went into the general fund. (1/2 + 1/6 + 1/6 = 5/6). Where does that nearly 17% of “over a million in lottery earnings each year” go? That is something I can’t tell you. And does it really cost $170,000 (17% of 1 million) each year to run the lottery program (admin, advertising, etc.)? That would be very inefficient, if true.
Oh, and I purposefully did not even touch on the religious vice of gambling in general. We are in the Bible belt, so you can guess the hypocracy I see… Oh, but I would be too tempted to digress again, so…
That’s all I got to say ’bout that.
I never learned the trumpet. The embouchure is too small for a trombone player like me. How about a little dixieland swing?
I’m more of a bass clef kind of guy.
Free will means you can throw your money in the street or down a toilet if you wish. And the people must wish, because they are the ones that approved the statewide ballot for the lotto in the first place.
I mentioned parks for a specific reason. I visited a newly opened state park recently and the edifice on display was incredible. I think I remarked at the time, “This looks like the kind of place Kirk and Spock beamed down to that one time.” It was all brand new, shiny, and quite extravagant.
Inside the fancy building were two employees. When visitors like myself came in one of them would stroll over to the desk, pick up a clipboard and make important notes. Counting visitors is certainly work that could never be replaced by a machine. They were friendly enough, and I desperately wanted to ask if they were paid or volunteers, but decorum and good breeding prevented me from asking.
While making chit chat, I said to one of them, “Very nice place you’ve got here.” They beamed with pride. My subtle sarcasm was lost of them.
“This was paid for with your lottery dollars.”
I’ve spend a few bucks on the lotto over the years, maybe $3 or $4, so I felt right at home. I own a piece of this place, I thought. I spied some used gum stuck to the floor. Yep! There’s my address.
I always thought the money was for “schools” but I get the feeling there is more general fund about it than I suspected.
I love how knowledgable you are and I award a gold star for your inclusion of maths! I agree that a lottery is an inefficient method of public funding, but it is one found palatable to the masses. Roll them bones!
I also like how you touched on the hypocrisy element. Nicely played.
BTW, here’s my list of the top ten things I’ll do if I win the lotto. Enjoy!
http://shoutsfromtheabyss.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/top-ten-things-ill-do-if-i-win-the-lotto/
Just this past week, I used my free will to walk away and smile as the man behind me talked about how he won $50 this month on scratch tickets. He is the same man who buys ten tickets every day and sits with a group of four other men who also buys them. It is their morning routine at our local convenience store.
If I did win, I would definitely try Letterman’s #3 – get one of them Godzillies. Or better yet, build my own zoo for native American wildlife only. I could also use a new body; I’ve worn this one out.
If it were the MegaMillions Lotto, then I could finally live my dream of becoming an eccentric philanthropist playgirl (with that new sexy body) who owns a small fortified castle (complete with moat and secret underground mansion) in the middle of the Appalachians. I’d also have my own deuce-and-a-half fleet, ultralights, airplanes and an airstrip. And we’d fuel them all with homemade moonshine. Oh, and when that zombie apocalypse happens, I could hunt the animals from my zoo for food. (Am I scaring you yet?) hee-hee.
Oh, wait, first I have to buy a ticket. Oh well. Guess it is back to normal Mom-ville.
$10 a day is, I’m just guessing here, about $3,650 a year. I’m glad he won $50.
Maybe you can check my maths.
Mom-ville is a highly underrated place.
I never buy lottery tickets, but one day I found one lying in the gutter and stuffed it in my pocket. Then I forgot about it. A few weeks later, I found myself at a store with a scanner, so I checked the ticket and it turned out to be a winner. After taxes, I was paid a cool $4,323,902 dollars. I quit my job immediately, and bought a new house and a sports car. Then I got drunk, ran the sports car into a building, and was sued for all the money I had left. Now I have no car, no house, no money, and no job. My wife left me and sued for custody of the kids. I couldn’t afford a lawyer, so no I have to pay child support without a job. I had to give my dog away to a kennel and they euthanized it because no one wanted an old rescue dog with a bad attitude. I ended up living in a tent at a campground wearing cast-off clothing and begging for change on the side of the road. My sign says, “Lottery winner needs a dollar.”
None of this stuff actually happened, but when I go to buy a lottery ticket, it’s what I think about. So I usually don’t buy one. What’s the fun of getting all stressed-out thinking you might win and have your life decimated?
I think you just wrote the movie of the week! At the very least an afternoon special. “The Lotto – The jackpot that became the worst day of the rest of the rest of his life.” The thing practically writes itself. Mind if I steal it?
Most of us view winning a mega jackpot as a positive thing. The theory is that, positive or negative, it is a very big change, and it is the amount of change itself that becomes the problem. I’ve heard of studies that say most lotto winners are not better off down the road.
I’d be the exception, of course. I’d squirrel it away all smart-like and never tell a living soul. I’d quietly buy my rental home, quit my job, and use the rest to start a business peddling some sort of plastic crap made in China to peddle moronic idiot mouth-breathers on the internet. I already picked my business name, too. “The Angry Merchant.” Dot com! If you click the “customer service” link it won’t have a picture of a smiling model. It’ll just say, “Fuck you.”
Investors! Give me a call! (Although I don’t own a phone.) It’s not too late to cash in on this ground floor opportunity.
We enjoy heading to Las Vegas a couple of times a year, but we don’t really spend any more there than if we were to go to San Francisco for the weekend. We like the food, the spas, and the people-watching. We always gamble, but never all that much. The idea of a local casino doesn’t really appeal to me.
That said — this does touch on the Nanny State issue. That is — the state lets you smoke as much as you want, and we indirectly pick up the tab with insurance costs. The state lets you eat as much as you want and we pick up that tab, too. How does people choosing to go broke in a casino differ all that much from them throwing their lives and money away on cigarettes, ho-hos, or booze?
I’ve been to Las Vegas many times. I’d tell you what happened there, well, you know. I like to stay at the Monte Carlo because the parking lot unloads right into the lobby. The elevators to the rooms are just a few feet away. And they have like seven swimming pools!
It’s located at a fun intersection on the strip, too. The MGM Grand, New York/New York, Excaliber and Tropicana (ugh) are all within walking distance and the city thoughtfully provides pedestrian overpasses to minimize the chances of being hit by flying cars. And across the street is a huge arcade, a giant Coca-Cola bottle, and more M&M’s than I can eat in a single sitting. In case I need snacks.
One time I stay at the Tropicana and ended up hauling our bags like 4.2 miles. Never again.
On the second floor of the Excaliber there was an Italian restaurant where I had the best Italian meal of my life.
Of course this was all over 10 years ago, pre-Decade of Dispair when I had actual money, so it could all be different by now.
Nanny state? Perhaps. Those are complicated and thorny issues you touched on. I’ve always believed it is appropriate for the government to step in and “nanny” when the results of inaction would simply be too devastating over a broad swath of our society. Little exceptions to the Constitution in the name of the “greater good” are a great example of this. Does gambling meet that standard? Perhaps not. But it can still wreak great devastation, usually self-inflicted.
Bottom line? I just don’t think it makes financial sense to the voters. I think they’d be wise to turn down this request. The costs of this form of “entertainment” are too high.
I agree with you in this case about local casinos… I think it’s a bad bad idea. — I was just sort of playing Devil’s Advocate. It’s always a little scary for me when the gov’t gets a little too “we know what’s best for you…”