Poll of the Day > Do you think it's ethical to become a billionaire if it's due to a lottery?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Like the powerball?

No because it's taking money from people who, generally, don't have enough.
Lotteries are fed by the poor.

shadowsword87 posted...

No because it's taking money from people who, generally, don't have enough.
Lotteries are fed by the poor.

Are there statistics for that? Is it unethical for low income people to bet their own money in a pool with mostly other low income people to try to get one large income?

https://www.vox.com/identities/2016/1/13/10763268/lottery-poor-prey
https://smartasset.com/taxes/the-economics-of-the-lottery
https://www.legitgamblingsites.com/state-lottery/

Is there a specific stat you want?

shadowsword87 posted...

https://www.vox.com/identities/2016/1/13/10763268/lottery-poor-prey
https://smartasset.com/taxes/the-economics-of-the-lottery
https://www.legitgamblingsites.com/state-lottery/

Is there a specific stat you want?

No I was just asking for sources, thank you!

What is your opinion on the second part that I asked you?

Why not? Is it ethical for others to become Wealthy off the backs of hard working people?

Is it ethical for Amazom to become a Trillion Dollar company while barely paying some Delivery people a little over Minimum Wage?

all i know is im buying a ticket by tomorrow

Because it's profiting off of a poorly educated poor people. It's not a group of friends pooling money to buy a house helping everyone, it's randomly assigning money to someone.

I suppose it does devolve into "there is no ethical consumption under capitalism", but it's never as direct.

^^Yea keep forgetting its 3 times a week now

I don't see why winning a game of chance would be unethical

pionear posted...

Why not? Is it ethical for others to become Wealthy off the backs of hard working people?

Is it ethical for Amazom to become a Trillion Dollar company while barely paying some Delivery people a little over Minimum Wage?

No, but that's using others labor to enrich yourself. This is risk pooling basically.

shadowsword87 posted...

Because it's profiting off of a poorly educated poor people. It's not a group of friends pooling money to buy a house helping everyone, it's randomly assigning money to someone.

I suppose it does devolve into "there is no ethical consumption under capitalism", but it's never as direct.

It's not a "group of friends" but it's a group of similarly income'd people participating.

yeah it's the most ethical way to become rich since everyone has the same chance to win

the only unethical part of a lottery is that it promotes gambling

it's a gateway drug to going to a casino

Its a gray area, perpetuated by education funding cuts, but isnt outright amoral, as its balanced by personal responsibility.

That being said, every state takes portions of sales for various civil works, including education. Thats why California has no lottery tax, because they already got their cut.

That being said, if I did end up a $500,000,000 rich person, I wouldnt hoard it. I already know Im going to pay people I like just because I can. As well as fund many animal shelters, and possibly start a restaurant chain where I give full blessing for workers to respond in kind to customers and they wont be punished for it, oh and theyll be paid very well for working there. The place wont be intended to make money, but to help people sustain themselves and give me a place to go to eat and get food I want.

being a billionaire itself is amoral, but lucking into it is probably the most ethical way of all

ZangsBeard posted...

Its a gray area, perpetuated by education funding cuts, but isnt outright amoral, as its balanced by personal responsibility.

at least in new york the lottery fund of unclaimed winnings goes back into the public school system

Jen0125 posted...

at least in new york the lottery fund of unclaimed winnings goes back into the public school system

Ah yes that too. Im pretty sure California does the same.

shadowsword87 posted...

No because it's taking money from people who, generally, don't have enough.
Lotteries are fed by the poor.

So if they "feed" the lottery, it would be unethical for them to win?

no, I think the lottery in and of itself is a scam that keeps people addicted to it at their own financial detriment

I won't morally condemn the people for participating in it, but I'd prefer that it didn't exist. it's just that everyone discusses the benefits of there being a 'winner' when nobody wants to discuss the millions of losers that create this equation.

shadowsword87 posted...

Because it's profiting off of a poorly educated poor people.

But what if you're also a poorly educated poor person?

Jen0125 posted...

No, but that's using others labor to enrich yourself. This is risk pooling basically.

But, how would your billionaire status be any less ethical or valid than a bezos or musk? Do you really believe it would be less ethical or valid?

CedarPointcp posted...

But, how would your billionaire status be any less ethical or valid than a bezos or musk? Do you really believe it would be less ethical or valid?

that's what i'm asking.

i don't know. i'm trying to understand how other people feel about it or their perspective. i personally find it more ethical to obtain $1bn by everyone pooling money under the agreed upon contract that there will be one winner. especially if the buy in is as low as $2.

I dont think its unethical. Its all just essentially a game of chance. No one is forcing anyone to put money into it.

You won't become a billionaire, you'll get taxed like 400 million, the only time billionaires are taxed fairly

Zareth posted...

the only time billionaires are taxed fairly

Lmao right?

It really depends on what you do with the money. If someone is just going to buy a bunch of crap like they always do then there's no room for an ethical argument. You're just spending money at that point. Now if you're going to use that money to create or build something that other people can partake in, I'm down for that.

I don't think I would want to win the lottery. You would have to hire a legal team just to keep people from trying to rip you off.

not if you don't tell people

Hard_Light posted...

not if you don't tell people

Yeah but the people where you won the lottery at will tell other people and it all rolls down hill from there.

this isn't six degrees of Kevin bacon

Molitheus posted...

Yeah but the people where you won the lottery at will tell other people and it all rolls down hill from there.

There are still privacy laws in place. If a winner wants anonymity, they will have reasonable anonymity.

Lots of states make the winner public, whether they want to or not. I'd rather win a lesser prize though I think even the second prize is only like a million. A mil is nothing to sneeze at, but I wouldn't be able to retire off that

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

There are still privacy laws in place. If a winner wants anonymity, they will have reasonable anonymity.

Why do you always say incorrect stuff matter of factly like this

You don't live in America and you don't know the laws in America where most of us live

I should expect it is legal and moral to paint a bullseye on people's backs?

And then there you go again making some kind of thinly veiled value judgment on America because you were told you were wrong

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

There are still privacy laws in place. If a winner wants anonymity, they will have reasonable anonymity.

It's like you say stupid shit just to intentionally be wrong.

Nicht probably doesn't do this shit on purpose, but yeah... you'd think that at some point in fifteen years, most people would pick up on the idea that maybe you should stop confidently speaking on things you have little knowledge and no personal experience with

Winning the lottery is definitely the most "ethical" way to become a billionaire lol

Well that's a dumb question, of course its ethical. It's not like you got it by marrying a crusty old billionaire and hastening their departure from this Earth, or through other horrible illegal means. Its a game of chance that no one is forcing anyone to play. And the most a lot of folks may get is a free soda or some shit.

Nichtcrawler-X posted...

There are still privacy laws in place. If a winner wants anonymity, they will have reasonable anonymity.

only 16 states out of 50 let you be anonymous if you win a lottery

Lil_Bit83 posted...

Well that's a dumb question, of course its ethical. It's not like you got it by marrying a crusty old billionaire and hastening their departure from this Earth, or through other horrible illegal means. Its a game of chance that no one is forcing anyone to play. And the most a lot of folks may get is a free soda or some shit.

Do you think it's unethical to marry an elderly billionaire for their money?

I'll stop posting if I win.

Yes. The money is legally yours.

Winning the lottery? Yes.
Participating in the lottery? No.

It is a poor tax and everyone involved in the lottery should be in prison for perpetuating it.

That's extreme

Yes. No ethical problems winning, although once you have all of that money there are ethical ways to use it (and not).

Regarding whether it should exist...frankly, I think it would be fine if people were prevented from owning more than a small number of tickets. Do I think it's wrong for a state to offer someone an (unrealistic, sure) chance to dream of winning for $2? Nah. Do I think it's wrong for a state to offer someone who's otherwise struggling to get by an opportunity to spend $500 on tickets? Yes, that's not cool.

wpot posted...

Yes. No ethical problems winning, although once you have all of that money there are ethical ways to use it (and not).

Regarding whether it should exist...frankly, I think it would be fine if people were prevented from owning more than a small number of tickets. Do I think it's wrong for a state to offer someone an (unrealistic, sure) chance to dream of winning for $2? Nah. Do I think it's wrong for a state to offer someone who's otherwise struggling to get by an opportunity to spend $500 on tickets? Yes, that's not cool.

I can agree with all of this

don't hate the player, hate the game

but yeah once you become a billionaire, the ethical question then I think is what you do with your wealth

wpot posted...

Yes. No ethical problems winning, although once you have all of that money there are ethical ways to use it (and not).

Regarding whether it should exist...frankly, I think it would be fine if people were prevented from owning more than a small number of tickets. Do I think it's wrong for a state to offer someone an (unrealistic, sure) chance to dream of winning for $2? Nah. Do I think it's wrong for a state to offer someone who's otherwise struggling to get by an opportunity to spend $500 on tickets? Yes, that's not cool.

If somebody is struggling that bad they're not going to be buying that many tickets since they don't have the money.

Revelation34 posted...

If somebody is struggling that bad they're not going to be buying that many tickets since they don't have the money.

This is not always true if you have a gambling addiction. But I don't feel we should do away with luck based lotteries because a small portion of the population has a type of addiction.