“Give me a Dollar & I will Give you 65 Cents”: The Lottery as ‘Predatory Gambling’, Another Source of Wealth Transfer from the Poor to the Rich.
We document 2021 egregious levels of wealth inequality by citing how the combined fortunes of the richest 100 Americans have reached $2.9 trillion, greater than the combined $2.5 trillion wealth of the bottom 50% of the U.S. population, according to data from the Federal Reserve. Despite the pandemic, Fed data show all groups gained wealth last year however despite three relief checks disbursed by the Biden administration, the top 1% did best by far, adding $4 trillion in 2020 bringing their total net worth to almost $39 trillion, more than the bottom 90% of Americans combined.
Meanwhile, a 2022 nationwide investigation of state lotteries by the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism at the University of MD revealed among other things, lotteries now operate in all but five U.S. states & driven by more than a half-billion dollars in annual ad spending, increasingly sophisticated sales strategies, and political pressure to increase revenue, lottery ticket sales have grown from $47 to $82 billion since 2005. In 10 states, lotteries generate more revenue than corporate income taxes.’ The report cited the following.
1. For every one dollar spent on average the purchaser gets about 65 cents back as winnings.
2. High school dropouts spent 4x more per year on the lottery than college graduates. Black people spent, on average, nearly five times as much as white people.
3. The result is a multibillion-dollar wealth transfer from low-income U.S. communities to powerful multinational companies as state lotteries transfer wealth out of needy communities to the tune of $29 billion lost annually by players in the 45 states (plus Washington, D.C.) that have a lottery.
Joining us is our guest Les Bernal who has been National Director of Stop Predatory Gambling since 2008 He has spoken and written extensively about commercialized gambling, including regional casinos, state lotteries, online gambling, and commercialized sports betting. He has testified before Congress and dozens of state legislatures. He has been cited by more than 600 newspapers and magazines and he further reveals:
1. Over the eight year period of 2018-2026 according to 5/15/2018 MarketWatch Report, the US public will lose $1T of personal wealth to government sanctioned gambling, half of which is coming from state lotteries. 500B coming mainly from lotteries most of which are played by low income populations”
2. While half the country has retirement funds i.e. has a home has some assets.. The other half have nothing in savings or assets and here Instead of focusing on how to build wealth for our disenfranchised, you have a government program that targets this group; it is this group that is targeted by lottery interests.
Siempre fieles, Pgatos 1/30/23 pgatos00@gmail.com
If you are not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing. Malcolm X