Winning the Lottery Could Prove a Losing Proposition, Analyst Says
by Ed Thomas
March 27, 2006
(AgapePress) - - Many people consider winning the lottery the "ultimate ticket" to a new lifestyle. But one pro-family group spokesman and analyst says the results of such a "jackpot" may be of little benefit if the habits and attitudes of the winners remain the same. Richard Nelson, a policy analyst with The Family Foundation of Kentucky, says the problem with winning the lottery is the big principle behind it -- that is, the idea of rewarding someone with something for which they neither saved nor worked. Equally problematic, he contends, is the government's principle of endorsing state prosperity at the expense of people who are losing money or possibly developing a potentially devastating addiction.
Neither principle is a good one, Nelson asserts, and he believes even those who manage to "beat the house" and gain a luxurious lifestyle through lottery winnings may be unlikely to profit in the long run. That is because those winnings represent "money that they did not earn, that they did not work hard to get," he says, "and just as easily as they have obtained that money, that money will leave their hands just as quickly."
The pro-family analyst says money gained in that way can sometimes create more problems than solutions for winners, since they often do not know how to handle their sudden affluence. "So there's a danger that comes with a great big pot of gold, with a great big sum of money," he explains.
"I think there was a study that recently came out," Nelson continues, "that showed that over half of major lottery winners ended up filing bankruptcy within a short period of time, within a few years or something like that, after they won their huge jackpot."
While many people find the statistic ironic, the Family Foundation of Kentucky spokesman adds, "the reality is that money that you come into easily can sometimes be a curse for people. They don't know how to manage it and handle it, and it's very easy to squander it."
Receiving a large sum of money, unearned, without knowing how to properly value it or manage it can usher in all kinds of problems, says the family advocate -- from figuring out how not to avoid the "easy come, easy go" pattern to fending off friends and family who want a piece of the action.
Nelson says he does not approve of the lottery and other forms of gambling, and not only because most of the winners fail to hang onto their newfound fortune. He maintains that a state-sponsored system that generates profits for some people by enabling many others to lose their income and possibly get hooked is a risky business for all concerned.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
