Lottery price rise 'an unfair tax on the stupid'

[Coito ergo sum]

Ah, you compassionate Yankees with your fine-tuned sense of social responsibility.

Not sure appointing a guy running a 7-Eleven as the morality police constitutes "social responsibility", but if that's what the Continentals think, then I guess...

I'm not a continental - that would be the French.

IMHO, just because you're providing goods or services does not mean that you should divest yourself of all social responsibility when it comes to making money.

The question becomes, what is a storekeeper's social rsponsibliity? Is it to impose his own brand of morality upon his customers? The customers are allowed to buy only what the storekeeper deems is appropriate?

That, to me, doesn't sound like social responsibility. It sounds like morality police. If a guy shows up and buys 100 lottery tickets, is that too much? Does it depend on the person? Is a storekeeper really in a position to know who has a gambling problem and who doesn't? Is he as likely as not to make poor decisions, selling to those he misidentifies as okay, and refusing to sell to those he misidentifies as having a problem?

Saying shopkeepers have a social responsibility is one thing. Defining what that responsibility is, the extent of it, that's quite another thing altogether.

[Coito ergo sum]

The lottery itself is a tax on the stupid.

But it's fun once in a while. My policy is that when the prize gets above nine figures ($100 million or higher), then I play. It's fun to hope for that once in a great while. As for shmucks who play every week and hope to win each time, that's pretty silly.

Looks like Powerball is up to $110 million. I'm going to grab a ticket on the way home.

[Cormac]

The lottery itself is a tax on the stupid.

But it's fun once in a while. My policy is that when the prize gets above nine figures ($100 million or higher), then I play. It's fun to hope for that once in a great while. As for shmucks who play every week and hope to win each time, that's pretty silly.

Not sure that people who okay it all the time "expect to win". They might have an unrealistic hope, but I doubt they believe it.

[Ian]

The lottery itself is a tax on the stupid.

But it's fun once in a while. My policy is that when the prize gets above nine figures ($100 million or higher), then I play. It's fun to hope for that once in a great while. As for shmucks who play every week and hope to win each time, that's pretty silly.

Looks like Powerball is up to $110 million. I'm going to grab a ticket on the way home.

I gotta go get a ticket then! I might win!!!

[SteveB]

It'd be stupid not to!

[klr]

Ah, you compassionate Yankees with your fine-tuned sense of social responsibility.

Not sure appointing a guy running a 7-Eleven as the morality police constitutes "social responsibility", but if that's what the Continentals think, then I guess...

I'm not a continental - that would be the French.

IMHO, just because you're providing goods or services does not mean that you should divest yourself of all social responsibility when it comes to making money.

The question becomes, what is a storekeeper's social rsponsibliity? Is it to impose his own brand of morality upon his customers? The customers are allowed to buy only what the storekeeper deems is appropriate?

That, to me, doesn't sound like social responsibility. It sounds like morality police. If a guy shows up and buys 100 lottery tickets, is that too much? Does it depend on the person? Is a storekeeper really in a position to know who has a gambling problem and who doesn't? Is he as likely as not to make poor decisions, selling to those he misidentifies as okay, and refusing to sell to those he misidentifies as having a problem?

Saying shopkeepers have a social responsibility is one thing. Defining what that responsibility is, the extent of it, that's quite another thing altogether.

In the particular case that I'm thinking of, it was blatantly obvious to everyone who was in the shop at the time that the person had a serious gambling issue, at least in respect of these types of lottery tickets. I also gathered that the store had dealt with this person before, and so they would have been in an even better position to make a judgement.

[Coito ergo sum]

Not sure how people in the shop can possibly know that a person has a serious gambling issue. All they can know is that the guy buys a lot more lottery tickets than they think is appropriate. How else did they know? Did they have access to his psych records? Did he tell them he couldn't stop gambling and it was a problem? Was he like, "fuck it, I'm spending the rent money on lottery tickets?"

Just because a guy comes into the store every day doesn't mean the store is in any position to make a judgment. If I came into a store every day, for example, and bought a case of beer, would the store have cause to think me an alcoholic? Would it be their "social responsibility" to stop selling me beer?

[Svartalf]

The lottery itself is a tax on the stupid.

But it's fun once in a while. My policy is that when the prize gets above nine figures ($100 million or higher), then I play. It's fun to hope for that once in a great while. As for shmucks who play every week and hope to win each time, that's pretty silly.

Looks like Powerball is up to $110 million. I'm going to grab a ticket on the way home.

I gotta go get a ticket then! I might win!!!

YOu sure won't win without one...