Debates of all sorts discussion

Is buying a lottery ticket a good idea, or just a waste?

It's your personal decision :P It's not worth it to me, might be to somebody else....

I don't see anything wrong with buying one every so often... Doesn't a certain percentage of the money go towards some charities? I know a certain amount of PA lottery cards goes towards old people :P

In my state the proceeds go to property tax relief, which is a good enough cause, I think :P

I agree. It is definitelu a waste to spend almost your whole paycheck on lottery tickets, but the cheap ones every once in a while can't hurt. One time my dad won $50 off of a cheap one so you never know if it could be your lucky day. Plus , in my state, the proceeds are supposed to help our public schools.

I've never heard of any cons, so ..

Well, at least major ones :-P Multiply buying tickets is taking away money on your part.

Yeah, until you win $5,000,000 ;D

True .. :-P

The Texas lottery supports Texas education.

Texas Education needs help big time, and not in form of money, they need people fired and replaced soon.

Can't say I'm a huge fan of Texas education either ..

American public education sucks for the most part :P And people are like, "Oh, it needs more money is all" which is bull...the system needs to improve. Especially the standards >.<

Hey, its your money. Do what you want with it. There's nothing wrong with the lottery. I personally wouldn't spend my money buying the cheap things. Its not like I have a high chance of winning. But every once in a while when your feeling lucky is fine with me. :P

Cody wrote: "Texas Education needs help big time, and not in form of money, they need people fired and replaced soon."

Tell me about it. I live in Texas. -.-

Recently last year, in our district, every school fired one teacher. Stupid budget cuts. They got rid of my band director who had only taught one year, yet improved the band by lots. Now we only have one band director for the WHOLE schoo. Doen't sound hard, but it is. He has no break because he teaches all 7 periods without even a conference period. He stays 'til 6 every night at school to get grades and plan ahead for the next day. Its crap.

They had stupid cuts in my area, and I don't even live in the south.

In my high school, they cut shop class (which I was dying to take .. I was heartbroken when I found that out) and they only have basic art classes. AND the art teacher is more of a critic than a teacher :'-(

I'm sorry

That sucks :(

It is your disision in the end of the day. But in my oppinion the lottery is a waste of time. I played it 7 times with my grandad, the highest score I got was 2 from 7 numbers!!!!! I don't think it is a good idea because it is a waste of your hard erned money plus you might get addicted. But if your rich and rolling in money go on, the LOTTERY AWAITES!!!

It's not that expensive to do it occasionally, and you can get addicted to almost anything. Just saying.

I think any sort of gambling and betting is wrong.

Lorelli wrote: "I think any sort of gambling and betting is wrong."

Why?

Because, well why should you spend your hard earned money on something that is ment to give you money in return? It is a 1 in a million chance that you will win anything. If you carry on playing in a casino soon enough you'll go skint. Then what? You'll get a job and play in a casino or lottery again, win nothing, and be pennyless again. Do you see where I am going with this. And even if you do win, there is usually a catch. You'll probably need to pay them for the money or pay intrest when it's all finnished. I just want to say away from things like that. Anyways, your life your choice. Don't let anyone stop you.

It depends on the game, among other things: I've seen things that give small (like $25) prizes, but every single time you play. I see no problem with that :P

Also, Lorelli, gambling addicts are the exception. The vast majority of people are quite capable of leaving when they're on a losing streak, or before it gets to that point.

I played it with my grandad for fun. Then I couldnt stop. Obviously I am too yong to play myself so I joined him. (the lottery) I didnt mind at first. I ended up playing it 8 times then I stopped. I guess it is easy to leave as long as you haven't played it too many time. I dont think i'll ever play it again. I just think, from my experience, it is better to leave it to be.

Lorelli wrote: "Because, well why should you spend your hard earned money on something that is ment to give you money in return? It is a 1 in a million chance that you will win anything. If you carry on playing in..."

Nothing you've outlined here makes gambling "wrong", your statement simply tells us why you don't want to do it.

I agree, it's a waste of money, but I don't think it's wrong.

i write this to Paul:

In MY opinon it is wrong because as some people say, it is as good as a ADICTIVE DRUG. And ok you say that you used to be adicted to ciggerets and you have some funny stories to tell about it but still... ARGH! this is so hard to explain to you. But as my R.E. teacher says:
'Your morals that were taught to you as a child should follow through to adulthood. If you weren't taught these self morals you'll have to teach yourself right from wrong. Gambling in most cases is a sin and you'll be safer to stay away from it.'

Ok if you want to gamble go ahead... WAIT! I did say why it is wrong paul, It is because you give your money away to win something which indeed you wont. It is the same as throwing the money in the toilet, flushing it and saying ' GOOD BYE! I WONT MISS YOU BECAUSE I HAVE A 1 IN A MILLION CHANCE OF GETTING A MILLION POUNDS MORE IN RETURN.'

Do you see my point Paul? PLEASE SAY YOU DO!

Sugar is addictive, does that make it wrong to eat candy? Caffeine is addictive as well, is drinking a cup of coffee or cup of tea wrong?

Just because something can be addictive doesn't automatically make it wrong. There is no argument anyone can pose that takes the morality from the person and places it directly on gambling. The number of people who gamble everyday and walk away after a bet or two overshadows the number who have become addicted and ruined their lives due to lack of self control.

I don't believe in "sin" or sins. The term is a cop-out that was used to scare people when we were 10 hairs from being an ape. To an open and intelligent mind it carries no weight whatsoever. The bottom line is, you cannot make a moral argument against gambling saying it's a "sin", because the bible has no specific mention of it.

The only reason why it's widely illegal is because it screws governments out of money. Not so long ago people in the states were arrested for a little game called "numbers". This is where some people of the neighborhood would pick a few weekly numbers and at the end of the week there would be drawing and people would win money... sound familiar?

And no, you didn't say why it is was "wrong" in your previous post. You stated why you don't wish to gamble. If someone wishes to flush their coin down the toilet, that's their prerogative. Who are you to call them wrong?

Lorelli wrote: "It is the same as throwing the money in the toilet"

I don't know about other states, but some WV lottery proceeds fund education, senior citizen, and tourism programs. so, even if you don't win, your dollar is not just flushed down the toilet- it benefits someone.

Kirby wrote: "Lorelli wrote: "It is the same as throwing the money in the toilet"

I don't know about other states, but some WV lottery proceeds fund education, senior citizen, and tourism programs. so, even if..."

Yeah but I mean the other Lottery. The WV is helpful but others like lotto dont benefit anyone apart from the company.

Why does something even have to benefit someone else monetarily? It's just fun :P And yes, people do get addicted, but that's very much a minority.