State-Run Lotteries

Whether to have state-run lotteries is a controversial issue in many countries. There are many debates on state-run lotteries. Some people think that state-run lotteries contribute to flourish in their economy because the taxation of government will increase, and some consider that state-run lotteries are beneficial for those who have disabilities or those who are single-parent families or low-income families, while others believe that many lottery players suffer from financial ruin and gambling addiction. I agree with the latter so I think state-run lotteries should be limited.

Many people have never thought of lotteries related to tax policy. Actually state-run lotteries are a type of tax. State-run lotteries constitute an implicit tax similar to exercise tax on goods like cigarettes and alcohol. Some countries viewed state-run lotteries as a more palatable revenue raiser than explicit taxation. Nevertheless, legislators would find that they do not truly need the tax revenue raised by lotteries; they would either get by without it or raise it through explicit taxation enacted legislatively and honestly.

     Some people believe that we can increase work opportunities for those people in need by state-run lotteries. The government should help them learn some skills rather than encourage them do this kind of high-risk and low-tech job. Currently, in Taiwan, people who want to do state-run lotteries have to rent a store and hire people to manage it. In many other countries, their state-run lotteries belong to their convenience stores. Compare to those countries, the way we use to manage state-run lotteries wastes many social sources.

     State-run lotteries give the government pressure to legalize other gambles such as Texas hold'em Poker or mahjong. The legalization of gamble also influences our children because children will think gamble is allowed. In the long run, it is harmful for our society. In order to realize the disadvantages of state-run lotteries, we need to understand the lotteries revenue and the magnitude of the industry. In Fiscal Year 2004 of the USA, lotteries generated over $48 billion in consumer spending, up from almost $45 billion in Fiscal Year 2003. This figure is not so surprising when we consider that, in Fiscal Year 2002, the average American spent more money on lotteries than on reading materials or attending movies.

     The government set investment thresholds for state-run lotteries. Originally, the purpose of state-run lotteries is to help those people in need. However, they cannot meet high investment thresholds. Instead, those relatively high-ability people start to do state-run lotteries. Besides, some people who work at the selling of watches, seal engraving, or optician have a sideline in selling state-run lotteries. They often too busy to find the balance between state-run lotteries and original works.

     State-run lotteries should be inhibited because of above reasons. The government does not truly need the tax revenue raised by state-run lotteries; instead, they should raise it through explicit taxation. State-run lotteries without complete coordinated sets of measures will lead to the waste of social sources. Most important of all, if state-run lotteries are manipulated by those who have power or money, it cannot really help those people in need.