The Mega Millions Lottery jackpot has reached an all-time record:
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$1,600,000,000. (before taxes) paid out in installments over 29 years, or
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$904,000,000. one-time cash payout (before taxes).
For $2 you can engage in a little wishful thinking.
Brief fantasies need not be expensive.
Now, along comes Tyler Durden, writing in Zero Hedge , with a smug, holier-than-thou sermon on the evils of lotteries.
Durden titles his piece Why The Mega Millions Jackpot Is Nothing But Another Tax On America’s Poor. After a couple of paragraphs of pop-psychology, Durden reprints an article written 6 years ago by Nick Colas, containing such insights as these:
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Poor people spend a larger percentage of their incomes on lottery tickets than wealthier folks do.
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On average, in states with lotteries, 11% of total state tax revenues come from lottery sales.
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Therefore, lotteries are simply additional “taxes” on the poor.
Yup. You betcha.
And, because poor people spend a larger percentage of their incomes on Big Macs and toilet paper, than rich folks do – in the process, generating profits for giant corporations and taxes for states – the Colas/Durden logic would imply that Big Macs and toilet paper unfairly target and victimize the poor, as well.
Victimology is running rampant as a social theory in America.
That theory holds that if you’re poor in America, everything in your life exists to beat you down and victimize you. Including your Big Macs, your toilet paper, and your lottery ticket.
I have my ticket for Tuesday’s drawing, with no illusions whatsoever about the odds of winning.