In a report on the lottery’s critics that was published by CNN, one argued that the lottery system in general is an example of “systemic racism,” in response to the sale of the biggest Powerball ticket in California.
The winner matched all six numbers, the odds of which were 1 in 292.2 million. The person received a prize of a record-breaking $2.04 billion, due to its good fortune.
However, lottery experts are reflecting on how they believe the game is unfair for certain people after the jackpot was ultimately claimed.
Researchers say according to CNN that State lotteries continue to market and sell tickets to low-income groups at increasing rates despite the extremely low odds of anyone winning, causing those Americans to believe it’s a quick way to accumulate wealth. And these communities are disproportionately made up of Black and brown people.
As a result of a system that is removing wealth from their neighborhoods, critics said that the result is that marginalized individuals would incur greater debt.
CNN reports added that Les Bernal, national head of Stop Predatory Gambling, claimed that the lottery was a form of “consumer financial fraud” and proof of “systematic racism.”
Bernal said, “They’re hoping to pay their rent at the end of the month or pay an outstanding medical bill or put their kids through college or they just lost their job and they’re just trying to find a way to make ends meet. And here you have what is a government program encouraging citizens to lose their money on rigged games.”
In a study from the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism cited by CNN, the profits gained by the states from the lottery are rarely used to benefit those poorer areas where Stores that sell lottery tickets are more likely to be located in those neighborhoods. And most of the time, the money these locals spend on lottery tickets goes to institutions and wealthy school districts rather than their towns.
Bernal continued, “Commercialized gambling like state lotteries, like the Powerball drawing, they represent a financial exchange that is mathematically stacked against you.”
The most frequent lottery players were Black and low-income people, as well as high school dropouts, the Howard Center pointed to a 1999 report to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission.
In a Howard Center article stated, Former Massachusetts inspector general Gregory W. Sullivan said,
“Poor people are collateral damage to a cause of raising money for what the legislators feel is good purposes … public safety, local schools. State governments become dependent on the revenue and any moral considerations get pushed out of view and out of mind.”
As was just mentioned, consumers are more likely to make dangerous purchasing decisions during difficult economic times.
Saying, “It’s an investment. It may not be a good investment but… to people with limited resources, this may be the only way they have to sort of dream big and think that something, something great is gonna happen, that’s just gonna change everything,” Cornell economics professor David Just summed it up.
Sources: Dailywire, CNN, Wcti12
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