Re:How MIT Students Won $8M in the Massachusetts Lottery (2012)
by dkrich on Monday June 08, 2015 @10:48AM
(#9679403)
But then shouldn't the government not be able to sell lottery tickets for the same reason?
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Re:How MIT Students Won $8M in the Massachusetts Lottery (2012)
by thefreeman on Monday June 08, 2015 @11:48AM
(#9679825)
You are probably just being sarcastic. But yes, completely. The kicker for me is that it is illegal for anyone else to run a lottery (Racketeering).
Lottery TV commercials literally make me want to puke every time I see them. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yaB28DCxFQI
Re:How MIT Students Won $8M in the Massachusetts Lottery (2012)
by dkrich on Tuesday June 09, 2015 @06:07PM
(#9688828)
I actually am wholly opposed to government-run lotteries, mainly for the reasons you cited but also because they prey upon the poor and act as a wealth redistribution engine from the poor to the rich.
My question is why would taking advantage of this system for one's own gain be unethical? The administrators believe (apparently erroneously) that they have a built-in statistical advantage over anybody playing. So by the logic that the MIT students shouldn't exploit a flaw in the system even though it is legal because it is unethical, then the lottery administrators should not be able to run a lottery for the same reason.