 David Blankenhorn, founding president of the Institute for American Values in New York, contrasts the “culture of debt” and the “culture of thrift” during his presentation at the BGCT Christian Life Conference in Austin. (PHOTO/Ferrell Foster/BGCT) |
“The state lottery is government’s version of sub-prime lending,” said Les Bernal, executive director of StopPredatoryGambling.org.
If the general public recognized the realities surrounding state-run lotteries and casino gambling, people would view them in the same light as predatory lenders, he insisted.
“We need to change the public perception. We’re talking about predatory gambling — using gambling to prey on human weakness for profit,” Bernal said.
Instant-win scratch-off lottery tickets and casino gambling differ from small-stakes social gambling in several respects, he observed — the speed of the games and the “buzz” people get; the amount of money people lose; and the predatory marketing that is used to promote them.
The Federal Trade Commission exempts state lotteries from the same standards to which other advertisers must comply, he noted.
“We should ask why, during severe economic times, is the government trying to convince citizens to spend large sums of money on virtually worthless tickets instead of encouraging savings,” Bernal said.
But unfortunately, the ads work, he added.
“One out of five Americans thinks the best way to achieve long-term financial security is to play the lottery,” he said.
Lotteries could not even come close to breaking even if they relied on sales to casual buyers, he added. Five percent of the ticket buyers account for more than half of all ticket sales.
Instant-win lottery tickets trigger the same brain chemistry as the bells and whistles of a casino slot machine, said Rob Kohler, who worked 12 years with the Texas Lottery Commission before he joined the anti-gambling movement.
“It’s instant gratification — the same appeal for scratch-off lottery tickets and for slot machines,” he said.
In recent decades, state-run lotteries have helped transform the United States from a nation of small savers into a national of small wasters, said David Blankenhorn, founding president of the Institute for American Values.
“Lotteries take direct and intentional aim at the thrift ethic,” he said.
Blankenhorn believes government could help reverse that trend by “repurposing the lottery.” He envisions using the existing lottery infrastructure to encourage savings.
“Every time a person went to buy a lottery ticket, they also would have a chance to buy a savings ticket,” he said. “And the slogan could be, ‘Every ticket wins.’”
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Ken Camp is managing editor of the Texas Baptist Standard.