Consideration #1: Odds of winning if you never buy a ticket: zero Odds of winning if you buy a single $1 ticket: non-zero. Yes, the odds of winning are inifinitismally small, but there's a huge statistical difference between zero and non-zero.
Consideration #2: Cost of a lottery ticket for cheap entertainment: $1 Cost of a move ticket for cheap entertainment: $9 (ignoring the $$$ for drinks & popcorn) $1 < $9, therefore lottery ticket is cheaper entertainment.
Lotteries are a tax on stupidity iff the purchaser actually actually expects to win or the purchaser has used funds which were required for essentials instead of discretionary spending. For most of the rest of us, it's just a cheap passing amusement.
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Date: 2006-09-22 02:52 am (UTC)Consideration #1:
Odds of winning if you never buy a ticket: zero
Odds of winning if you buy a single $1 ticket: non-zero.
Yes, the odds of winning are inifinitismally small, but there's a huge statistical difference between zero and non-zero.
Consideration #2:
Cost of a lottery ticket for cheap entertainment: $1
Cost of a move ticket for cheap entertainment: $9 (ignoring the $$$ for drinks & popcorn)
$1 < $9, therefore lottery ticket is cheaper entertainment.
Lotteries are a tax on stupidity iff the purchaser actually actually expects to win or the purchaser has used funds which were required for essentials instead of discretionary spending. For most of the rest of us, it's just a cheap passing amusement.