A record Powerball jackpot isn't a record to celebrate (+video)
The record Powerball jackpot is only the latest trick by states addicted to gambling revenues to lure nongamblers. Online gaming is also on the horizon, with the first legal website for games of chance now running in Nevada.
Last year, the multi-state Mega Millions lottery also hit a record at $656 million. It, too, lured nongamblers to buy its $1 tickets. “What’s the harm?” many said.These record lotteries aren’t a fluke. States with lotteries have become so addicted to this revenue that they purposely look for new ways to create a gambling addiction among more residents. The eye-popping jackpots, made even larger as more states pool the winnings into larger sums, somehow bedazzle people to dream of instant wealth on a Donald Trump scale.
Meanwhile, many of these gamblers ignore the very long odds – about 1 in 175 million. And some get hooked – for years, draining personal savings and upsetting relationships.
The ultra-lotteries aren’t the only example of a worsening addiction among states to this “free” revenue. At least 10 states are weighing laws to allow online gaming, an easy, fast-paced, and private form of gambling that a 1999 federal study referred to as “crack cocaine” for enabling new addicts.
Oddly, the gaming industry refers to online gaming as a “killer app.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/Commentary/the-monitors-view/2013/0517/A-record-Powerball-jackpot-isn-t-a-record-to-celebrate-video?utm_source=feedly&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+feeds%2Fcommentary+(Christian+Science+Monitor+%7C+Commentary)
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