Texas is once again finding itself in trouble over sagging lottery sales. While On Tuesday it was announced that its Veterans Cash lottery game was down 42% from this time last year. That translates into $4.7 million in lost revenue. The game was inaugurated in 2009 to help veterans by funding a wide variety of services from rehabilitation to counseling. All of Texas lottery ticket revenue is dedicated to education but one. The Veterans Cash lottery ticket was dedicated to helping veterans. This is of particular concern because 9 out of every ten dollars provided to the state fund for Veterans Assistance fund come from lottery sales.
A similar ticket issued in Illinois is also in trouble. "There's a lot you can do with these special interest games if you think about them differently" said Illinois' lottery superintendent Michael Jones. He has proposed gimmicks to improve sales such as allowing ticket buyers the opportunity to fire a howitzer.
"People are patriotic", said Texas state Senator Leticia van de Putte. "Maybe we should do a little more advertising." Maybe they are patriotic, but they are not patriotic enough to support more state funding for veteran's programs, schools, and roads. They need to be enticed by the prospect of making some quick money.
People want to help others. They want the homeless to have a place to live. They want the hungry to have food. They want children to be able to go to decent schools. The problem is that many don't want to have to pay more or do anything themselves. They want others to take care of the problem. The government is more than willing to accommodate them. The government makes it easy to ease your conscience by taking the burden of tending to others upon itself. All a citizen has to do is pay his taxes and his obligation to society is met. More than a few want something for their beneficence.What better way to help the homeless than to buy some cookies or attend a concert? Still others want a more public display of their generosity. What better way to help the hungry than to attend a gallery opening or a charity benefit? Now people will have another way to help. They can play the lottery.
No one is going to buy a lottery ticket to benefit veterans or fund schools. If they really wanted to do something they would volunteer or write a check to support the cause. They are going to buy a lottery ticket to win money. By dedicating proceeds from a lottery ticket to a program, the government is simply enticing people to gamble by allowing them to justify their gambling by putting a veneer of social benefit on it. People can go to a store and purchase $20 in lottery tickets and tell themselves that they are contributing to a worthy cause by doing so, that is if they give their purchase any thought beyond the simple habit and the hope of winning money.
If people truly cared about the causes and needs the lottery boards claims to be benefiting they would do something other than seek personal gain. There are any number of charities that would welcome the money. But where is the fun in donating to them? Where is the reward in that? Offering to dedicate some of the proceeds from lottery sales to worthy causes is not far removed from prostitutes offering to set aside some of their profits to help women's centers, or casinos offering to support homeless programs. In each case an effort is made to polish a vice and maintain its appeal and continued existence by trying to put a veneer of nobility on it. Vice is to be encouraged, in moderation of course, if it is for a good cause.
States want people to buy lottery tickets. Increasingly, they need people to buy lottery tickets. What can you do if greed and desperation are not enough? Simple: you seek to portray playing the lottery as a civil contribution. You can attempt to portray playing the lottery as an act of civil and moral responsibility if you like, but it does not change its essence. It is still gambling. Whatever the merits of the cause, the motivation is, and will always be, personal gain no matter what lottery players promise God and the fates regarding all the good and decent things they will do with their winnings. To use veterans as a marketing ploy to boost lottery sales is not only crass marketing, it is shameful.
So, even if you can't attend some celebrity gala or play around of golf for the troops, you can still do your part and buy lottery tickets. Who knows? You might even make yourself a nice pile of money to go with that warm feeling. It is not like you are being asked to wash cars or bake a pie. If everyone does their part we just might gamble our way to a better society.
If the state lottery board's plan works, a whole new vista will open up for lottery sales. I can see it now: lottery tickets for the homeless, pregnant teens, and the elderly. At least people will be able to put their money where there heart is.
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