Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site utcsri.UUCP Path: utzoo!utcsri!clarke From: clarke@utcsri.UUCP (Jim Clarke) Newsgroups: can.politics Subject: Re: Lotteries Message-ID: <1254@utcsri.UUCP> Date: Mon, 15-Jul-85 10:13:11 EDT Article-I.D.: utcsri.1254 Posted: Mon Jul 15 10:13:11 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 15-Jul-85 10:41:54 EDT References: <15740@watmath.UUCP> Reply-To: clarke@utcsri.UUCP (Jim Clarke) Organization: CSRI, University of Toronto Lines: 40 Summary: In article <15740@watmath.UUCP> cjbiggin@watmath.UUCP (Colin Biggin) writes: >> >>Most PEOPLE "aren't very well off, have grungy jobs, and are middling >>desperate about their lives. The unanswered question is: are such people >>more or less likely to buy lottery tickets (which they probably can't >>afford) than are people who are well off or are happy with their jobs >>or lives? > >Perhaps the reason they buy lottery tickets is to become well off, quit >their grungy job, and become hopeful and positive about their lives. Of course! My point is that that's NOT a reasonable way to improve your life, and (perhaps I didn't say this clearly) most people don't know enough about probability to know this. >I personally buy about one lottery-type ticket about once every two >months. It's usually when the pot in 6/49 goes to 6 or 7 million. >I don't get any pangs of guilt when I buy it. I don't think it's >immoral either. I seem to remember always having church raffles >around Christmas time. Not to mention that churches in this country >also run most of the bingo games.... Maybe I also didn't say clearly: I don't think it's immoral to gamble, drink or smoke, as long as you're not hurting someone else by doing it. I doubt that anyone who has commented on this issue hurts anyone else by buying lottery tickets at the levels being mentioned, unless there are programmers/computer scientists out there being paid at surprisingly low rates. Not everything churches do is right. (Let's not get into *that* argument!) Also, not all churches run raffles and bingo games. Example: the United Church. The UC won't even accept government help for its projects, if the money comes from lotteries. Sounds a little on the hyper-pure side, but I think they're right. >To the poor and destitute of this country (which is far fewer than >most other countries) lotteries might provide the only hope of a >better existence. Today's "opiate of the masses"? Maybe that's why the churches like them.