Learn your Pick Six Syntax
Grab your singles…we’re close to the Arkansas Lottery going live.
I have pretty defined opinions about a lottery, but I also don’t have near as hard a line as others. Here are two thoughts – one from a pure financial standpoint, one from a moral one.
Financially, I respect and agree with the position held by my professor of Advanced Corporate Finance from my MBA days. His definition of a lottery was “A self-imposed tax for stupid people.” If you think about it, it really is. A lottery is, by its very nature, an elective tax…as if we already don’t pay enough and won’t be able to work ourselves out of the hole we are free-falling into right now. The odds are very much against us.
Morally, I do not hold the view of my mother (or others for that matter) who tried to teach me that buying a lottery ticket was like buying a subway ticket to hell. Let’s face it – there is as much chance in a lottery as there is betting on certain stocks in the Dow right now. I think this is like anything else. If you want to throw a few bucks at the chance, so be it. If you start depriving yourself of food and stop paying your bills because you think this is your week to win the Powerball, you’re probably stepping into the wrong area. I am presuming that those who tried to teach me otherwise years ago would likely still accept a tithe of any winnings.
And please…don’t tell me that the proceeds of any lottery are going to make better roads or better schools. Look at Mississippi. End of argument. Casinos and lottery galore – worst roads and schools in the nation. No, the lottery is a money factory for someone – the problem is that very few can actually find where the money goes.
So, to me, the lottery is a non-issue. Yes, I have bought about four lottery tickets in my lifetime. No, I have not won anything. Will I buy an Arkansas lottery ticket? Probably – but not on a regular basis and only when I think I have a couple of bucks to burn. And, literally, burning the bills for momentary warmth will probably give me more enjoyment.
-MH
