Whether it’s the lottery for kindergarten placements at a reputable school, units in a subsidized housing block, or a vaccine for an epidemic-spreading virus, the process of drawing lots is a powerful tool for distributing limited resources. In the case of lotteries, players pay for a ticket, select groups of numbers, and hope enough of those numbers match those randomly drawn by machines. The winning participants are then awarded the prizes.
State-run lotteries typically begin with a legislative monopoly; a centralized government agency is established to run the games (as opposed to licensing private companies); the number of games begins small and grows over time; and a variety of promotions are used to lure new and existing players. Lottery marketing strategies often focus on persuading people to spend money and play more, thereby generating higher profits for the state.
The state’s message, however, obscures the regressivity of these taxes and the psychological harm associated with gambling. It’s a message that says, “You shouldn’t feel bad about playing the lottery because even though it doesn’t help the poor, at least it raises revenue for your state.”
Moreover, the odds are stacked against players: those who choose numbers based on their birthdays or other special events, for example, do so in the hopes of improving their odds of winning by creating an artificially inflated sense of luck. And although a win in the lottery is improbable, people will continue to gamble, with or without an understanding of the odds, because it offers them a glimmer of hope at a better life.