The Lottery

The lottery is a horrible tax upon the poor. That means it is a tax upon people of color to fund the states. That’s a bad thing. The lottery also makes absolutely no sense from a financial perspective. It is a black hole for your money. But here’s the rub–if you are an impoverished person of color with no economic opportunities thanks to racism, who has probably been caught up in the war on drugs at some point and served time for nonviolent offenses, you might as well play the lottery. What other opportunities for economic stability do you have? It might be irrational in a strict sense, but it almost seems rational when placed in the lived experiences of those who play it.