Lottery - No Hope

MyLastFiver

pania wrote: »

****CONTROVERSIAL POST*****WARNING********


I used to play the lottery all the time, of course i never won anything other than the odd ten pound.

In 1996 the national lotteries commission refused a grant to the kent air ambulance of 2 million. a cause that for reasons I won't explain is exceptionally dear to my heart, but agreed a 10 million grant to the lesbian and gay arts council.

From that day forward i have never ever even been tempted to put my money into their hands. I have nothing against the charity that was granted 10m, i know they put it to good use but it doesn't save hundreds of lives a year. It doesn't provide medical support and treatment for people that would otherwise die travelling by road. the kent air ambulance is so thoroughly deserving of the 2million yet they saw it fit to refuse.

Sorry said it would be controversial...

It's a false comparison to select two causes out of thousands of possible ones, then dismiss the lottery because it gave to one and not the other. If you want to argue that the lottery doesn't support good causes, you've have to do an analysis of all of the causes it supports, all of the causes it refuses, categorize them (arts, sports, air ambulances, whatever) then make a judgement from that.

This is the thing about the lottery - people mistake it for some sort of accountable redistribution scheme. It is not there to fund our essential services - that's what government taxation is for. It has a wider remit concerning what constitutes a "good cause". To many people, the gay & lesbian arts council is a worthy cause. However if you disagree, then unlike income tax, you can stop paying it if you don't like how it distributes its money. Which you sensibly have done :T

Lottery Schmottery :rolleyes:

Gemmzie

I agree with MyLastFiver, some lottery funding choices can be seen as questionable, we've had one locally recently which has caused uproar. But overall, it's a huge charity which allows many, many schemes to run and without that money they would disappear.
It's almost a way of giving to charity with a little flutter built in.

Paulgonnabedebtfree

The best win I ever had on the lottery was £93. It was the same week that the water pump packed up on my old van (cost £94). Couldn't help wondering if someone up there was having a chuckle at my expense even though I'm not a believer .
I have been spending bits on the lottery here and there. I'm not ready to let go of my dream - no matter how unlikely. So I have decided that I will use random numbers only and will spend no more than £2 each month. I usually spend anything between £1 and £3 a week so that's an improvement.