I was listening to the radio this morning and noted a couple of ads that were in conflict with each other. The first was from the Michigan Department of Community Health. It warned of the dangers of gambling. The second ad was from the Lottery Commission. It was encouraging the public to buy lottery tickets. This struck me as a conflict in interest so I had to wonder.

Maybe the state considers the lottery to be OK since it is the state that is receiving the money. Maybe the state considers the lottery to be a fun way to raise money. With the lottery you have a chance to winning. Not so with taxes.

Perhaps the state doesn’t consider the lottery to be gambling. After all, every gas station and convenience store sells lottery tickets where as real gambling is only found at licensed casinos. And I guess, while not impossible, it would be very hard to blow your life savings on $1.00 lottery tickets unless of course your life saving consists on only $1.00. But I think this is more to the point. The people who play the lottery the most are the ones who can least afford to loose the money.