Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, The: Con job: Lottery a hoax

Con job: Lottery a hoax

By DAVID BREWSTER

Wednesday, May 24, 2000

Sorry for airing a pet peeve in public. This is by no means an appeal arising from self-righteousness or piety. It is simply an opinion strongly felt: Government lotteries are blights on the body politic.

We all know gambling is an activity we would like our children to avoid. Its sleazy reputation reaches back at least to the time when Roman soldiers cast lots for Christ's robe after the crucifixion.

Gambling has always been one of organized crime's primary sources of cash. That poker is always played indoors and usually under cover of darkness speaks volumes for the reputation of gambling. In the old days, only rowdies bragged about being big winners from Saturday night blackjack.

Enter state lotteries. Suddenly, "gaming" (as the gambling industry likes to call it) is the patriotic activity of responsible citizens. Not only are winners (and few they are) allowed to gloat, they're expected to do so.

For state "gaming" commissions, everything is hype, and anywhere is fair game for the big sell. The commissions in some states send recreational vehicles out on the highways to promote the latest stunts for relieving hapless citizens of their hard-earned cash.

The commissions' TV commercials are always candidates for dumb, dumber and dumbest. Billboards, key chains, bumper stickers, funeral fans, the Goodyear blimp -- is nothing sacred? Is there nothing the panderers of fun and fortune won't do to steal (sorry, forgot it's legal) take our money?

Some see state lotteries as just another form of taxation and, of course, they're right. The lottery is a voluntary tax (an oxymoron), and that's what makes the son-of-a-gun, once unleashed, nearly impossible to stamp out. Everyone loves the lottery -- those who play it, those who run it and those who do nothing but simply sit back and enjoy its bounty -- new schools, roads, parks, etc.

Soon, lotteries will provide little plazas on every main street in America where folks can go on summer evenings and dream of life after their "Big Win." And that's what's most galling of all: The whole blasted business preys on the hopes and dreams of good and decent citizens.

Gaming commissions expend all that effort to sell us the big lie. We buy it, and at some level or another, we really begin to believe our fate will improve through indulging in games of chance, instead of through planning, saving and just being honest, hard-working, God- fearing folks. When was the last time you saw a state run a commercial advocating those values?

Finally, there is a distinction between the Mafia and state government with regard to the matter at hand. The state has the power to tax. The Mafia has to work for a living.

Give organized criminals the power of taxation, and you can bet they'll be out of the gambling business quicker than one can lose money at the craps table.

With such an awesome capacity as the legal authority to tax, why are states involved in gambling?

The answer is as simple as scratching a lottery ticket. All governments want all of the money they can get, because money is power, and power's the name of the game.

But there's a problem. In an open society, it's hard to hide a tax and, of course, we all hate taxes. The lottery is the perfect solution. Not only are we numb to the pain of handing over our money to government, we actually believe we're having a great time doing it.

So the next time we line up at the local gas station checkout for that "Big Lotto Card," let's pause a moment and think. If I keep that buck in my pocket, I have the power. If I buy the ticket, I give it to them.

David Brewster is a writer from Burlington, Ind.