George Washington, America’s very first president, used to participate in the lottery. Moses used a lottery to determine which of his flock would win a plot of land (Ugel 25). The lottery has been around for an exceedingly long time. In fact, according to the National Gambling Impact Study Commission, “The first recorded lottery to distribute prize money was held in 1466 in Bruges, now Belgium, for the announced purpose of providing assistance to the poor” (Ugel 26). Even today, millions of people participate in the Mega Millions and the Power Ball lotteries. The lottery is a form of gambling. It is the selling of numbered tickets with numbers the consumer has chosen for a drawing at a later date. When the numbers are randomly chosen, rewards are given to those with the corresponding digits. This is mostly used as a way to raise money and to provide cheap entertainment. Gambling in America recently conducted a poll finding that 57 percent of Americans reported buying a lottery ticket in the past 12 months (Www.naspl.org). People with incomes in excess of $75,000 spend roughly three times as much on lotteries each month as do those with incomes under $25,000 (Www.naspl.org). With lottery sales alone, it is no shock that the United States earned $78 billion dollars (Www.naspl.org). Due to a struggling economy and an increase in unemployment, more citizens take a chance in the lottery. The lottery gives a ticket buyer the slim chance to win millions of dollars. Even though the chances of winning the lottery are 1 in 175 million (Bernard), many Americans still buy lottery tickets. Financial worries and a struggling economy give citizens the psychological motivation to participate in the lottery. American citizens, along with the eco... ... middle of paper ... ...31 Mar. 2012. Web. 9 Jan. 2014. . Ugel, Edward. Money for Nothing: One Man's Journey through the Dark Side of Lottery Millions. New York: HarperCollins, 2007. Print. Www.albertahealthservices.ca. Alberta Health Services, n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2013. . Www.naspl.org. NASPL, n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2013. . Www.palottery.state.pa.us. PA Lottery, n.d. Web. 19 Dec. 2013. . Www.palottery.state.pa.us. PA Lottery, n.d. Web. 1 Jan. 2014. .
“Why We Keep Playing the Lottery”, by freelance journalist Adam Piore takes a very in depth look as to what drives millions of Americans to continually play the lottery when their chances of winning are virtually non-existent. He believes that because the odds of winning the lottery are so small that Americans lose the ability to conceptualize how unlikely it is that they are going to win, and therefore the risk of playing has less to do with the outcome, and more to do with hope that they are feeling when they decide to play. It 's essentially, "a game where reason and logic are rendered obsolete, and hope and dreams are on sale." (Piore 700) He also states that many Americans would rather play the lottery thinking ,"boy, I could win $100 million" (705) as opposed to thinking about all of the money they could lose over time.
Abcarian, Richard, and Marvin Klotz. "The Lottery." Literature: the Human Experience. 9th ed. Boston: Bedford/St Martin's, 2006. 350-56. Print.
The Lottery gains through selling tickets a massive amount of utility (money/pleasure). Much more than one person who buys a lottery
This includes all forms of income from high to low and all races from black to white. A more financially set adult will spend more money gambling then the “minority and poor populations” as Will explains them. If these so called poor populations have no money will they be the ones flying all the way to Vegas spending money on gas, food, hotel, and entertainment? I think not the ones gambling are those who make a good living and can afford to spend thousands of dollars in Las Vegas. One thing all people can agree there is not a person out there that would wish to be average their whole life, everyone wants to be able to retire knowing they have money to send their kids to college or to even buy luxury items. This hope of one day winning it big is the reason people get up each day only to work long and hard hours at work as well as at home. People don’t just quit their job because they lost the lottery they will work many more days to buy a ticket and hope to win only to try again and again. People need something they can look forward to work hard and achieve things never done before and the lottery provides this for them. You take this away and the hard-working people no longer have anything to look forward to, nothing stops them from going out and doing
Typically, when someone thinks of a lottery they think of something positive and exciting but contrary to this idea in Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery”, the connotation has an entirely different meaning. As the story begins, readers lean towards the belief that the town in which Jackson depicts is filled with happiness and joy. “The morning of June 27th was clear and sunny, with the fresh warmth of a full summer day; the flowers were blossoming profusely and the grass was richly green” (Jackson 247) We soon realize that this notion is far from the truth. As the townspeople gather in the square for the annual lottery, which sole purpose is to stone someone to death by randomly pulling a paper out of a black box with a black dot on it, it is learned
Winning the lottery is a dream most people have; it is magical thinking, believing that you, the ticket buyer will be the one defying all the odds. The only ones, from the hedonistic utilitarian standpoint whosehappiness will increase are those who actually win the lottery, a very small number from among all the players. The hedonistic utilitarian standpoint is not ethically recommendable because the lottery is only selling the dream of winning it while filling the state coffers with people’s hard earned money. (Brusseau, J. 2012)
Hicks, Jennifer. "Overview of 'The Lottery'." Short Stories for Students. Detroit: Gale, 2002. Literature Resource Center. Web. 19 Feb. 2014.
The lottery began as a game initiated by merchants and enjoyed by the upper class of Babylon. As the Babylonian culture became bored with the game, the entrepreneurs of the lottery could not afford to continue. A new clandestine entrepreneur took over the lottery and became known as the Company. A negative aspect was instituted into the lottery; a fine was imposed on the owners of certain tickets. If the ticket holder refuses to pay the fine, he or she faces imprisonment.
When the majority of people think about a lottery, they assume that it is a game of chance, where the winner will receive a grand prize that others would be dreaming of. This, however, was not the case in Shirley Jackson’s, “The Lottery”. In this short story, the villagers have a lottery, where the
Gambling has been an activity that has been around many states for a while. People like to gamble to test their luck and hopefully get lucky enough to win a prize. Nowadays you don 't have to go to the casino to test your luck, at majority of grocery stores they offer the ability to buy scratch off ticket and or play the powerball. Many people gamble to have fun, as well as, have a good time, but there are others that gambling becomes an addiction that is hard to control. The odds of winning are less favorable than the odds of losing. According to Jost, “lotteries in 43 states” as well as, DC “collectively” made “18 billion in revenue for the state,” along with the “local government.” (Jost,525) The lottery is a great investment for many states and the local government. Something that everyone has to be aware of is that the the lottery will always make a profit. Someone might get lucky enough to win 100 dollars, while 2 other people loss 100 dollars each. The big picture is that nobody is going to invest in a company that is not going to
Jackson, Shirley. “The Lottery.” Literature: A Portable Anthology. Gardner, Janet E.; Lawn, Beverly; Ridl, Jack; Schakel, Pepter. 3rd Edition. New York: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2012. 242-249. Print.
Jackson, Shirley. "The Lottery." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 989.
In "The Lottery," by Shirley Jackson, there are a series of traditions the story revolves around. The characters in the story don't seem to follow their traditions anymore. The story begins by explaining how the lottery works. The lottery takes place in many other towns. In this town it takes place on June 27 of every year. Everyone within town would gather at the town square, no matter what age. The black box is brought out and each head of the household pulls a small paper out of it. Only one of the papers will not be blank, it will have a black-penciled spot that is put on by the owner of the coal company. The black spot will send someone, from the family who chose it, to death. This is decided by a draw. The family member who pulls out the spotted paper will be stoned to death. After a long period of time, people forget the traditions by slowly disregarding as the years pass.
From the time the Europeans first landed on the Atlantic shore, lotteries have been a part of the American society. According to Will Spink, most states are currently operating a state lottery despite its bleak history in the U.S. (Spink 1). Since 1983, North Carolina has introduced lottery bills in the legislature every year (NC Christian 15). North Carolina Governor, Mike Easley, favors a lottery for increasing revenues for education (Analysis 2). However lucrative state lotteries appear on the surface, they create even more moral and financial difficulties for citizens, and this should encourage states to look at other means of resources instead of legalized gambling.
And to this day many feel that lottery revenues help the community, primarily education. If anyone has ever watched a lottery commercial we are often persuaded to believe they are supporting a "good cause" which is the primary messages they use to advertize themselves, both to lottery players and to the voting public.