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Winning the Lottery

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Veritas

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I don't really identify myself as an objectivist. But I don't see anything wrong with lottery winners. Playing a lottery doesn't sacrifices anyone's well-being since lottery players understand that no one is coercing them to play and chances of winning are slim. When buying a lottery, a person makes a willful contribution for someone who just happened to be a random person to buy a winning ticket. Again, no coercion is involved. The most horrendous thing that government can do about gambling is to restrict people's right to spend their money by proposing some stupid and ridiculous law that would ban gambling. So, being lucky to win a lottery is fine. Restricting the right to spend money is retarded. :(

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I think you might be interested in doing a search on the forum for 'Gambling', Veritas. There's a very interesting topic here, which goes into great depth discussing the issue of making one's earnings from gambling. Now, to be fair, poker is more than just a game of luck, so it's not a direct analogy, but if you're interested in this field in general, I recommend that thread to you.

As for the lottery itself, well, it's a contextual issue. If you earn a decent wage, then a few dollars every week to buy a lottery ticket, or pitching in to by ticket with some guys at the office every week, is not immoral. You're making an investment in something that most likely will not pay off, but the investment is so negligible, that it's no sacrifice on your part.

Now, consider a situation where you're barely scraping enough money together to make ends meet, and you buy one or more tickets every week, constantly ignoring the reality of the fact that that money would be better spent on a loaf of bread or new socks for your kids or what have you - that is immoral. That Simpsons episode, where Homer buys a barrow full of lottery tickets is a good example of this.

Essentially, you need to consider the context of the situation always - am I either a] investing more than I can afford to invest, considering the likelihood and amount of pay off (this is Economics 101); or b] using the potential pay off from an investment as a way to hide from the reality of my current situation? (This latter one is actually the mindset of the general populous, especially the alcoholic).

Edited by Tenure
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What does the Objectivist think about these people?

Nothing whatsoever; basically the same thing you'd think about someone who happened to inherit a large sum of money from a distant relative. Accidentally coming by some money has no moral import whatsoever. It does matter what they *do* with the money.

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I was just watching a show on TLC about lottery winners. They have gained there wealth simply by luck. What does the Objectivist think about these people?

I think that they are really, really lucky.

And I wish I could win the lottery too.

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