Do Lotteries Benefit The Poor? :: essays research papers fc

Do Lotteries Benefit the Poor? Lotteries take advantage of the poor in several ways. The lottery entices the poor to waste their money on lottery tickets, rather than everyday necessities, such as food, clothing and shelter. The main way that lottery promoters succeed in attracting the poor is through the persuasive use of advertisements. Other members of anti-lottery groups believe lottery advertisements are deceitful and attract poor people to its promises. Flashy slogans and pictures of large amounts of money are more than enough to pull the needy closer. These poor people are those that least need to be attracted, because they do not have the money to spend on tickets. This wasted money on advertisements is capital that should be used to help the poor in socially useful programs. The lottery is nothing more than a money-taker that uses advertisements to persuade those in search of money to try the lottery.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The money spent on advertising for the lottery is an absurdly large figure. Not only are the poor wasting money on lotto tickets, but the government is also wasting money on advertising for the lottery. The government only started to heavily advertise when they saw the annual sale of lotto tickets declining. In 1998, the lottery’s â€Å"sales growth slowed by two point five percent in one year†¦ and new lottery products were created to rekindle public interest, focused primarily towards the poor† (Ira Teinowitz 3). Most of these products consisted of corny scratch of tickets where prizes got no higher than five hundred dollars. It has been reported that nearly 200 million dollars were spent on lotto advertising in one year between the 38 participating state lotteries (Teinowitz 3). â€Å"The New York lottery takes in more than $2 billion in sales each year, and it spends $30 million in advertising to keep the cash rolling in†(Joshua Shenk 22). This is very destructive spending, because this money could be used for schools, charities, and college education. Besides the money spent on such ads, these ads are obviously focused towards the poor person who just needs to read a few catchy words to help himself by a ticket. A study by the Heartland Institute has indicated that the poor spend more money than the non-poor on lotteries, â€Å"not only as a percentage of their income, but also in absolute terms† (Shenk 22). The advertisements have slogans such as â€Å"Play the Lotto, and you could win the stuff dreams are made of†(Shenk 22).

American Popular Culture

What is popular American culture? Popular culture is a way of life. It’s a lifestyle of a group of people. The elements of everyday life consist of popular culture. These are the artifacts, institutions, and sorts of a general knowledge of a society, the common knowledge and practices of a specific group at a specific time. Popular culture reflects and influences people’s way of life because it is related to a precise time and place. It is temporary, and new phases take over from former favorites like singers, musicians, artists, media authors. But popular culture is all over the world nowadays. It is almost everything that surrounds us in our society today. It slowly builds up and becomes habits on what we do as we see. Some patterns in my pop culture inventory include photography, films, magazines and cell phones. I simply love photography with the fact that I have many photographer friends. Their photos inspire me in many different ways, such as the outlook to life in an image, the insight of a person through a glimpse of a shadow and such. Films complete me in today’s pop culture. It makes me realize more about life then pop culture itself. Magazines show me the kind of entertainment and celebrities we are surrounded by. It also shows how popularity comes first in today’s society, for almost about everyone. And cell phones are something not many people can survive without in today’s world. It’s the fastest source of communication. The values in which are being communicated by the items listed in my inventory are relevant to society. Photography can change a person’s view on life. Its actions that take place, through different angles, shows you a different look on life, by just looking at one photograph. You do need to let yourself away from the world and get in touch with the picture itself, that is how I see it. Films, movies, shows is the one category that I do follow up in today’s pop culture. Not necessarily all genres of films. I love action, drama, romance and just perfectly made fairytales. I have always believed that movies have an enormous influence in our society and life. The meaning and main plots of each and every movie mean something, weather it may be stupid or a life lesson, there are so many different minded people in the world today that each and every meaning counts. Films are very convenient in today’s society I believe. Magazines, though, may not be fully true about the popular celebrities today, but it definitely shows a lot with its images. The writings may be false, but it certainly shows us the image and lets us decide on our own. It’s a big pleasure to see and decide for yourself. Cell phones are today’s highest communication factor. There are new kinds of cell phones out every other month. The technology is on 24/7 producing newer brands of cell phones and upgrading the old ones. There are people that live off their cell phone, that they cannot take a step out of the house without their cell phone. It’s a responsibility for them. American pop culture does not leave much of an impact on my personal decision making. Because of the fact that I don’t listen to pop culture when it comes to my personal decisions. I have my own values about everything in my life. I don’t let the pop culture decide for me because I believe pop culture is all surrounded by materialism and popularity. I come to believe and realize that today’s pop culture can be the result of most of today’s bad behavior in many aspects of people’s lives. My values come within my culture and from the way that I have been raised. Pop culture has never had an impact on my own personal decision making because I have been very aware of the influence of the pop culture for many years. While popular American culture is our daily cost, we as individuals always have a choice in how much we choose to participate. Most of the time as I make decisions, I do take into consideration of what is going on today, but never let it lead me to an influence to follow in its steps. The patterns in my pop culture inventory teach me something in my life. It influences me to the right roads. It also makes me see realize what I am being surrounded by today. As for my personal decision making, I do what I want to do, when I want to do and who I want to do it with, but never what the media presents.

Essay on Enlightenment through Reading Great Literature

Enlightenment through Reading Great Literature Great literature has created controversy, enlightenment, and has perpetually stimulated the imagination of readers everywhere. The ability to learn from past experience that crosses religions, races, and times helps separate the great literature from the chaff. A good, entertaining story is not enough to produce a truly great and enduring work. Great literature is characterized by its ability to retain value in truth and entertainment even though changing culture. The influence of great literature has been a legacy of the human race for 1000s of years. Arguably the most influential of books is the Bible. It has been a top seller for almost all of eternity. However, it†¦show more content†¦The ability to interpret a book in multiple ways stretches the imagination of a reader and challenges a reader to place more thought into the reading of a book and no longer accept things at face value. Instead of a physical or purely imaginative enjoyment, great literature creates webs of connotations, ironies, and allusions which provide a purely mental entertainment. The entertainment of a truly good book is characterized by its ability to connect to other great works while stimulating thought in many different, yet related, subjects. A lucid example is Brave New Worlds society as a parallel to the oppression of current society and the problems of absolute power. This enjoyment is a unique experience for everyone. By discussing great books, everyone can see a different side of the picture, gaining from the unique experiences of everyone involved. The controversy that literature can provide allows unfair and biased views to be uprooted and looked upon by with a more objective view. Literature puts people to action by challenging their values and refreshing their views. Many long held traditions such as the selling of indulgences have been challenged by visionaries such as Martin Luther who posted his 95 theses on the church door, thereby causing a change in the beliefs of a large portion of the Catholic population. Such ability to call action to current events and an ability to continue to hold value after hundreds of years is what definesShow MoreRelatedLiterature Analysis Essay703 Words   |  3 PagesLiterature Analysis Noah Serna Western Governors University Humanities C100 January 15, 2016 Personal Observations of the Work The work of literature that I chose to do my initial observations on is a poem written by Phillis Wheatley, called â€Å"To S.M., a Young African Painter, on Seeing his Works.† This poem was written during the enlightenment period. 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