Anti Lottery
Jennie Fragale
Cameron County High School
Composition 1
The lottery has become an issue to
many people in multiple ways. Your
social life can be affected if you let gambling become part of your
lifestyle. Although it is a rare
occasion to win the lottery, it is possible.
Winning the lottery is not always good however. Winning the lottery can emotionally change
who you are. Low and middle class people
that win the lottery have no idea how to handle their unexpected millions of
dollars. As Sandra Hayes (2006), states,
“I had to endure the greed and the need that people have, trying to get you to
release your money to them. That caused
a lot of emotional pain. These are
people who you’ve loved deep down, and they’re turning into vampires trying to
suck the life out of me” (p. 52). This
addictive hobby is capable of destroying relationships, families and
homes.
The lottery becomes an extreme
addiction to many people. According to
addiction search.com, an addiction is “[a] gambling dependency or addiction is
an uncontrollable, compulsive urge to gamble (also wager or bet), in spite of
the consequences.” Signs of addiction
include lying and reckless behavior. An
addict will not stop such behavior no matter the consequences”
(addictionsearch.com, p. 1-4). People
will keep spending money on lottery and most of the time; they never win any
cash in return. Once in awhile you may
win a few hundred dollars but that does not cover anywhere near what you have
spent. Addicts will not realize this
cycle. They get too excited about
winning that they will invest more of their money into the lottery. Sandra Hayes, (2006), states, “I know a lot
of people who won the lottery and are broke today. If you’re not disciplined, you will go broke.
I don’t care how much money you have” (p. 52).
Winning the Lottery-Blessing?-Curse?
(2010), states that the chances of winning the lottery is “one chance in
eighty-six thousand of dying from poisoning” (p.1) People seem to ignore the statistics
thinking that they will be that one person.
Millions of people are all telling themselves the same thing. It does not make sense that all of these
people believe that they will win.
People believe that all of their problems will be solved if they win the
lottery. However, money does not buy
happiness. There is a history in America and Britain that proves my “money does
not buy happiness” statement. More
people have lived a miserable life with all of the millions of dollars. Winners have a tendency to become addicted to
drugs and alcohol, commit suicide, get divorced or become bankrupt. Winning the Lottery-Blessing?-Curse? (2010)
states, “Many people who buy lotteries are unemployed, poor and minor. For that reason, it will be hard to manage millions
of money for them as they had no experience.
According to California study, forty percent of lottery buyers are
unemployed. In Indiana sixty-five percent
of minors play the lottery” (p. 1-3).
When people win the lottery, they
tend to blow it away on things they do not need. They will usually waste their money by
continuing to gambol and buying elaborate cars or homes. Winning the Lottery-Blessing?-Curse? (2010),
states “Generally, these sorts of people do not know how to manage and enormous
amount of money that well. For that
reason, the money may last for average five to six years” (p. 1). They will soon be out of money if they decide
to live that way. This will cause stress
on that person and could result in taking their own life. Winning the Lottery-Blessing?-Curse? (2010)
states, “For example, Callie Rogers from Workington in Cumbira, she won 1.9
million euros in 2003 and she was only sixteen years old. She wasted her winnings buying a fancy car
cost thirty-three thousand euros, gave three-thousand to her boyfriend to drive
her around” (p. 3). She spent a fortune
on homes for her and her family as well as other wasteful purchases. “However, Callie Rogers felt lonely that
people especially troublesome boys, loved her money not her. She tried to suicide but survived.” She later stated, “I wish I had never
won.” Winning the lottery will not fix
your problems; it can easily create many more issues in your life if you cannot
manage your money or if you are not mentally stable.
One of the first things you will
want to do if you win the lottery is quit your job. You have to think logically though. Your job is something you do every day at
least five times a week. What would you do with all of your time if
you quit? It is important
to keep working. Unless you have won a
ridiculous amount of money, you should not leave your job. People that have won one to three million
dollars think that they can live a luxurious life for the rest of their life
when in reality, you cannot. The first
thing you should do after you win the lottery is sit down with a financial
advisor to figure your money situation out.
Money causes complications and stress.
Do not promise any of your money to family and/or friends right
away. Brandi Noriega (2006), states that
“Money can cause resentment and hostility between friends and loved ones; why
spoil your big day with all of that?” (p.1). Making drastic decisions with your
money without fully thinking it through will possibly result in you filing for
bankruptcy.
In my opinion, it is best to avoid
the lottery and gambling. If you are buying
tickets and not winning on any of your tickets then you are wasting a great
deal of money that you could be spending on food for you and your family. I work in a grocery store and people will
come through my line and pay with their food stamps card, which is fine; but
then they will buy lottery tickets with cash.
They obviously have money troubles already if they are using a food
stamps card; therefore, it is no secret that they cannot afford to be wasting
their money away on lottery tickets.
With what little cash they do have, they never fail to spend it on
lottery. In my eyes, this is not right. They should be saving their few dollars that
they spend every day on lottery tickets. If they were saving and being frugal,
one day they would be able to afford to buy their own groceries for their
family and get off of welfare.
A gambling problem will affect not
only yourself, but everyone that loves you.
If someone is constantly buying scratch offs or going to the casino, it
is a very bad sign. People will spend
money they do not have just so they can gambol.
A problem like this will cause some extreme tension in a household. Many gambling cases become divorced and completely
broke. Children suffer terribly if a
parent has a gambling problem. They will
be taken to a casino with their parent but of course cannot go in because of
their age. Parents will either leave
them in the car or they will be stuck sitting in the lobby waiting for who
knows how long. Michelle Tee states,
“Studies have also shown that the family member with the gamboling problem can
also become extremely verbally, physically, and emotionally abusive due to the
stress of the addiction. This can be
devastating to young children and adolescents as they are trying to succeed
academically and socially.” Money that
was supposed to be used to pay bills and food is not there anymore. Addicts spend all of their salary on
gambling. They will soon go into debt,
not be able to feed themselves or their family and could end up losing their
home.
Gambling will also lead to false
hopes. The people that purchase lottery
tickets or visit casinos do not understand statistics. Dave Smith (2012) states, “Gambling is a tax
on the poor people and people who can’t do math” (p. 2). Not only will a gambling addiction lead to
bankruptcy but mental problems as well.
It is very common for an addict to become depressed and anxious. If someone is focused on the lottery then
they are focused on wealth and materialism.
It is not right to have materialism as your main focus. We are meant to focus on love and
health. It is hard to maintain the
important focus when there are lottery machines everywhere. It is almost impossible to ignore. It sends children the wrong message. They think lottery tickets look exciting and
some parents will even allow them to scratch the tickets. Parents are letting their children get
interested in lottery tickets and gambling when they should be taught how to
save money. Saving money should be
taught as a positive activity, not wasting money. There is nothing at all false or negative
about saving money.
When saving money, the government doesn’t
necessarily take any of one’s money, but this is not always true with the
lottery. If you win over six-hundred
dollars playing the lottery, part of your winnings goes straight into the
government’s hands. What was rightly won
by you is not all yours. You have to
turn part of it over. How fair is that? Why bother? It all boils down to greed. The government feels they are entitled to
your money.
Greed is another very good reason to
stay away from the lottery. Once someone
wins money, he/she will just want more and more and more. It seems as if lottery winners are never
quite content. The first taste of
success and wealth usually is just the beginning of a gambler’s life. To be greedy is one of the worst
characteristics a person can possess.
Nogambolingaddiction.com (n.d.) states that “It is one of the most
horrible sins a person can do” (p.4).
Greed is a form of entitlement. When one wins the lottery, one begins to feel
a sense of entitlement. One may feel
that he or she rules the world and that everyone in the world should bow down
to him or her. It is very possible that
a winner could feel extremely special and that he or she is a king or a queen
when in all actuality it is not true.
Feeling like one is better than someone is another poor quality possibly
found in a person who wins the lottery. It is not very common for lottery
winners to be humble and generously donate the money to a charity. A lottery winner feels entitled to the money
and most often will keep the money and spend the majority of it by his or
herself.
A second form of entitlement with
the lottery system can be found in the fact that once someone wins the lottery,
everyone associated with that person feels entitled to a chunk of the
winnings. Many people will expect money
from you if you win the lottery. Family,
friends, acquaintances and even people you may not know. Winning the
Lottery-Blessing?-Curse? (2010) states, someone that had won the lottery before
said, “Everybody wanted my money; everybody had their hand out…”(p. 2). The attention can be entirely overwhelming on
people. Winning the
Lottery-Blessing?-Curse? (2010) States that a Britain’s lottery winner, Christopher
Donnelly, won the lottery and had people camping on his property (p.2). He eventually committed suicide because of
the stress it caused him. Needless to
say, money cannot buy one’s happiness. It may ruin your happiness and cost you
many friendships and relationships.
Another way to lose your family and
friends through the lottery lies in the fact that many gamblers must go through
one, two or several rehabilitations in order to beat their addiction. Rehabilitation takes time and the time away
from one’s friends and family can easily lead to problems. One such problem lies in the fact that many
spouses may not stick around waiting over and over again for rehabilitation to
possibly work. The agony of worrying
about whether or not a spouse will gamble again can cause a marriage to fail
quickly. A spouse of a gambler may end
up a nervous wreck and an anti-depressant and/or anxiety medication. It often becomes just too much for a spouse
to handle. The absence of a spouse also
leads to issues such as infidelity. When
a spouse is gone for long periods of time, it often results in the other having
an affair which can destroy a marriage.
Trust disappears between a couple and without trust a marriage cannot
survive. The gambler will always worry that
his or her spouse may cheat again. The
spouse will always worry that the gambler will revert back into his or her old
habits. Consequently, it is quite
obvious that the lottery can result in rehabilitation stays which in turn, can
destroy a marriage.
In addition to destroying a
marriage, rehabilitation can destroy a relationship between a parent and
child. Absence of a parent during
crucial times in a child’s life can lead to resentment. A child growing up without a mother or father
can also lead to resentment. Resentment
can lead to hatred in which case the relationship may never be repaired. Kindergarten orientation, school programs or
plays, honor assemblies, sporting events, birthday and graduations are just a
few of the many events a gambler may miss when going through
rehabilitation. When a parent is absent
from such important events in a child’s life, the child is bound to become
extremely sad and withdrawn. Inevitably,
a child could lack self-esteem and self-worth.
He or she may even feel unloved.
Growing up with that feeling cannot be good. It’s fearful to think about what a child may
do in such a circumstance. The child may
rebel and begin getting into trouble at school or home. The child may begin breaking the law and end
up in prison. As happens more that not,
the child may follow in the same footsteps as his or her parent and begin
gambling also.
If the child becomes the lottery
gambler, imagine the heartache a mother or father would experience. Many parents will admit that there is no pain
worse than the pain of a struggling child.
No parent wants his or her child to experience any sort of conflict
what-so-ever. The lottery can definitely
cause conflict. Although many people can
play the lottery without problem, it is quite apparent that some can become
addicted. Is it really worth the risk?
While the lottery is advertised to
benefit the elderly, does it truly benefit them if others are ruining their
lives? I do not think most of the
elderly would want to ruin lives. How do
we even know for sure our elders are even being taken care of through the
lottery system? I know of a few older
people that cannot afford their medications.
Why isn’t the lottery system helping them to purchase their needed
medications to stay alive? Where is the
money truly going?
The lottery does more harm than good. It is a major cause of addiction and various
other problems in our state and the states across the country. Perhaps our legislators should re-think the
whole lottery process. I doubt that
would ever happen because it would involve getting rid of a multi-trillion
dollar business and who would ever part with such a thing? Once again. . . Greed.
Culberston,
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D. (n.d.). Gambling Offers False Hope. daveramsey.com. Retrieved May 6, 2014, from
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February
14, 2013 “Anti-lottery arguments are feeble”, WyomingNews pages 1-2. http://www.wyomingnews.com/articles/2013/09/16/opinions/staff_editorials/colu mn365.prt
Michelle
Tee “How Does Gambling Addiction Affect the Family?” pages 1-2. http://ezinearticles.com/?How-Does-Gambling-Addiction-Affect…
November
28, 2012, “Dangers of Winning Record Powerball Jackpot: Greed, Pain, Going Broke” pages 1-5. http://washington.cbs.local.com/2012/11/28/ dangers-of-winning-record-power
ball-jackpot-
Susana
Kim, Nov. 29, 2012 “Reasons You’re Lucky You Didn’t Have Winning Powerball Numbers” abc News. Pages 1-3. http://abcnews.go.com/Business/reasons-lucky-winning-lottery-numbers/print?id =17839568
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recognize inner gambling: power of greed. (n.d.). Addiction or Greed
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