Why Is The Lottery Unethical

The Reasons Why The Lottery Is Unethical.

In Massachusetts the attorney general found that children as young as age nine were able to buy lottery tickets in 80 percent of their attempts (Nelson). The lottery has been around for a very long time. Lotteries date back to around the 1500’s. People see the lottery as a way to regulate taxes and give more to schools. It’s a form of gambling that is still labeled as legal. The lottery is unethical because it targets young children, the poor who can least afford money, and it doesn't always go to what it is supposed to with all states.

The lottery is an easy way to target children, and teach them the process of gambling in the form of lottery in convenience stores (Nelson). First, anyone can compete

The first showing of this is,“Instead these states substitute lottery revenues for money they otherwise would have spent from their general funds.” (Nelson). This is stating that the money uses the lottery tax but than waste other money in a sense. Another example is, “Eighteen states earmark their lottery revenues for education; others, for transportation or programs for seniors” (Nelson). This is what the money is said to go to, except if this were the case would others not have better school programs and supplies. The final example being, “When lottery revenues start to decline, officials look to more exciting games: in the 1970s this meant weekly and then daily drawings, and finally instant games” (State Lotteries poor). So in the end if they do not use the lottery as a revenue they will use a different way to get the money. These are the reasons why the states revenue from the lottery is

“5 Alarming Gambling Addiction Statistics.” Addictions.com, Addictions, www.addictions.com/gambling/5-alarming-gambling-addiction-statistics/.

The Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. “State Lotteries Prey on the Poor.” Legalized Gambling, edited by Mary E. Williams, Greenhaven Press, 1999. Contemporary Issues Companion. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010079240/OVIC?u=odl_brokenahs&xid=d848b49d. Accessed 18 Jan. 2018. Originally published as “Division for Church in Society: Session 4: Lotteries, the Poor, and the State,”, 3 Dec. 2004.

Nelson, Michael. “State Lotteries Are an Unethical Source of Government Revenue.” Gambling: Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. James Torr. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, 2002. 31-36.

Thompson, William. “Easy Money.” Frontline: Easy Money: Pro/Con. www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/gamble/procon/ithompson.html. 26 April 2007.

Worth, Richard. Legal Gambling: Winner or Loser? New York, Marshall Cavendish Benchmark,