How Gambling Effects the Economy
It's just another Saturday night in just about any common town in America. The family sits around the television discussing how much money the twenty tickets in their hands are going to make them. The jackpot is fourteen million. Before the numbers have been shown, the family discusses how to spend the money and how much better their lives are going to be after they win the money. Then finally, the moment of truth. The numbers come across the screen. The first one matches… so does the third… and the fourth. Well we didn't win this time but we're getting closer. "I know if we just buy a few more tickets, next time we're bound to win," Mother says. Many Americans feel the same way.
…show more content…
In the words of one lottery director: "Lotteries are different from any other form of gaming product. Lottery players risk a small amount of money against very long odds to win a large prize, with net proceeds going to the public's good" (Jones, 9). With lotteries operating in 37 states and in the District of Columbia, Lotteries are the most widespread form of gambling in the United States. Of all the other forms of gambling, it is the only one the majority of adults report having played. It is also the only form of gambling in the U.S. that is a virtual government monopoly. State lotteries have the worst odds of any common form of gambling, but they also promise the greatest potential payoff to the winner in absolute terms, with prizes usually amounting to tens of millions of dollars. Many Americans actually believe that they will win millions. What they don't know is that with most state lotteries their chances of winning are approximately 1in12-14 …show more content…
Carr, et al. "Video Lottery' and Treatment for Pathological Gambling: A Natural Experiment in South Dakota." South Dakota Journal of Medicine, January 1996 p. 31.
Gearey, Robyn, "The Numbers Game," The New Republic, May 19, 1997, p.19.
Golden, Daniel; Halbfinger, David M., "Lottery Addiction Rises, and Lives Fall," Boston Globe, February 11, 1997, p. A1.
Halbfinger, David M. and Golden Daniel, "The Lottery's Poor Choice of Locations," Boston Globe, February 12,1997, p. A1.
Jones, Michael, "Lotteries Must Strike Balance Between Letter of the Law and Unwritten Contract with Players," Gaming Law Review, Volume 2, No. 1, Feb. 1998, p.9.
Jones, Michael, "Lotteries Must Strike Balance Between Letter of the Law and Unwritten Contract with Players," Gaming Law Review, Volume 2, No. 1, Feb.1998, p.10.
Shaffer, Howard J., "The Emergence of Youthful Addiction: The Prevalence of Underage Lottery Use and the Impact of Gambling," Massachusetts Council on Compulsive Gambling, January 13, 1995,p. 9.
Wallisch, Lynn S., "Gambling in Texas 1995 Survey of Adult and Adolescent Gambling Behavior." Texas Commission on Alcohol and Drug Abuse, August 1996, p.
The following two paragraphs are a summary of Gloria Jimenez's essay Against the Odds and Against the Common Good. States should neither allow nor encourage state-run lotteries. There are five major arguments that people use to defend lotteries. One is that most lotteries are run honestly, but if gambling is harmful to society it is irrelevant to argue if they are honest or not. The second is that lotteries create jobs, but there are only a small handful of jobs that would be eliminated if lotteries were put out of business. Another argument that would support keeping lotteries is that, other than gambling addicts, people freely choose to buy lottery tickets. This is true, however, there are misleading advertisements that may cause people to buy tickets under false pretenses.
“Why We Keep Playing the Lottery”, by freelance journalist Adam Piore takes a very in depth look as to what drives millions of Americans to continually play the lottery when their chances of winning are virtually non-existent. He believes that because the odds of winning the lottery are so small that Americans lose the ability to conceptualize how unlikely it is that they are going to win, and therefore the risk of playing has less to do with the outcome, and more to do with hope that they are feeling when they decide to play. It 's essentially, "a game where reason and logic are rendered obsolete, and hope and dreams are on sale." (Piore 700) He also states that many Americans would rather play the lottery thinking ,"boy, I could win $100 million" (705) as opposed to thinking about all of the money they could lose over time.
Gambling can have adverse effects on the social welfare of many individuals and families. Gambling can increase the number of individuals and families dealing with gambling addiction and exploit individuals and families who are economically disadvantaged. Under such circumstances, not all forms of gambling should be legalized. This is clear evidence that gambling revenue allocated for Texas schools is not worth the negative effects associated with gambling. Education is a valuable source of growth for all citizens in a community, no one in society can truly grow if one part of society is left
Gambling is very risk and will impact on finance, family, health and job. Firstly family risk, ”spend more time gambling or think about gambling and it can be difficult to maintain a normal life, this creates stress and ha...
Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery" is all about how an old tradition as the lottery exceeds our expectations. First by giving us the readers the believe that the price of the lottery would be something great. Making us questioning the results and why to do this with no explanation at the end. Teaching us how traditions are that don’t make sense are killing because Society is clinging to this traditions and practices.
...way anyone can lose if they use their service. It can be argued that adolescents are not being forced to bet, they are simply given the choice. On the contrary adolescents see it everywhere it is unavoidable and they are being misled and tempted from a young age resulting in them believing they have a high chance of winning and becoming wealthy. Adolescents are too young and inexperienced to realise the harm of gambling in any form.
From the time the Europeans first landed on the Atlantic shore, lotteries have been a part of the American society. According to Will Spink, most states are currently operating a state lottery despite its bleak history in the U.S. (Spink 1). Since 1983, North Carolina has introduced lottery bills in the legislature every year (NC Christian 15). North Carolina Governor, Mike Easley, favors a lottery for increasing revenues for education (Analysis 2). However lucrative state lotteries appear on the surface, they create even more moral and financial difficulties for citizens, and this should encourage states to look at other means of resources instead of legalized gambling.
“Problem gambling, also known as gambling addiction or compulsive gambling, is defined as the urge to gamble despite harmful negative consequences or a desire to stop” (Northstar Problem Gambling Alliance 2015). Karen Frazier states, nearly 3 percent or 6 million adults and 500,000 teens meet the criteria for problem gambling (Frazier, 2015). Legalized Gambling has many positive aspects, and it should be noted that though a large number of citizens are considered “problem gamblers,” the majority of the population gambles causally and in moderation.
Gambling has been around since 2300 B.C. It has its positive and negative effects; it also has somewhat of a positive impact on the economy. It stimulates most communities by creating jobs and generates tax revenue for state and local governments. The gambling industry in “2002 and the commercial casino industry provided 350,000 jobs in the United States” (americangaming.org). Even though gambling can bring a lot of economic growth to the economy there is still an argument going on today whether it is a great choice to legalize it everywhere.
The adrenaline-rushing feeling of gambling offers people the idea that opportunity lies within their hands. Unfortunately, there are far too many consequences to gambling to even begin to count. To win you must play, and to win big you must play big. As more gamblers can recall their losses rather than their winnings, gamblers are often dealt with poor hands and must play the risky game to stay alive. Even though gambling has so many faults, some still fall under its corruptions because of gambling’s deceiving fallacies.
Gambling affects an individual at personal level causing increased incidents of divorce, family violence, child neglect and at community level a problem gambler tend to resort to fraud, embezzlement or tax invasion. An action to fight unhealthy gambling practice at primary and secondary level will further help reduce the major burden of disease in Australia and improve the health of public.
The lottery is something everyone wants to win no matter what the prize. People buy their tickets and await their fates. Some people win the lottery and many more lose. Losing the lottery causes something inside of us to die, but it is almost impossible to quit playing. The gambling becomes an addiction. The reason why people are constantly drawn to these lotteries is because deep down, the people who play them are convinced they can win.
Gambling is described as the betting of money or property on the result of an event or game that is mainly random with the desire to win more money or gain additional property. The industry or sector created by the activity of legal gambling is referred to as gaming. Since inception, gambling and gaming has continued to develop to an extent that it worth more than $335 billion across the globe. Most of the revenues obtained in this industry are generated by casinos and lotteries. In the past few years, gambling and gaming have attracted significant concern and controversy, especially with regards to the morality of the practice and whether its financial benefits outweigh the damage. While proponents of gambling
Gambling addiction is an issue found in numerous areas where gambling is legal. People who are addicted to gambling, also know as problem gamblers, face many health risks including depression, suicidal thoughts, loss of sleep, loss of appetite, migraine and anxiety in addition to marriage breakdown, problems at work and bankruptcy (9). About 2 percent of adults are thought to be problem gamblers (1). In today’s society this costly addiction is not often considered to be a common problem among those who gamble. Only a small amount of states in the U.S. give enough attention toward this rising problem of people that are sometimes even willing to commit crimes just to aid their addiction. In the past our government has sought out a few solutions that help those who have developed an addiction and prevent a further increase in the number of people becoming addicted. Personally, my outlook on the problem is that it needs a better solution. I think that a higher funding to gambling addiction clinics, more ordinance and restriction laws, and more prevention and awareness programs should bee brought into consideration in order to lower the amount of people who become addict to gambling.
As individuals, we are responsible for ourselves, including the decisions we make. However, with the temptations of making “easy money” and the dreams of hitting that million-dollar jackpot, these decisions make it hard for individuals to resist, which traps them into making poor decisions. With today’s economy, individuals are susceptible to mounting pressures from finances, work and a fast paced lifestyle. Even though these are everyday factors in our lives, they contribute to our stress level. Many times it is drugs or alcohol that individuals turn to, but there is also another very addicting behavior that many people turn to, gambling. There has been a rise in pathological gambling in the past 10 years and it is only increasing. With this fact, gambling is only banned in two states in the whole United States of America. What are the problems associated with pathological gambling and is the government and casinos acting ethically by propagating such an addicting act?