Yes, the economic system seems unfair. KY Lottery may not even the odds | Opinion

I am writing in response to former Mayor Baker’s opinion piece, “Happy Birthday to the KY Lottery. Fair play against a stacked economic deck.”

“The overwhelming number of regular lottery players are poor. People who make less than $10,000 spend on average $597 a year on lottery tickets. This is an astounding six percent of their income. Since I don’t believe the poor are ignorant, I did some research.”

Those statistics are sadly true. Those who can least afford to play the lottery end up being the overwhelming number of regular players. Side note, lottery revenues fund education scholarships including KEES, so it’s a reverse redistribution of wealth whereby the working poor are sending predominantly middle and higher-income kids to college.

Instead of spending $597/year on the lottery, if they invest the money over their working lifetime ages 25-65 in a mutual fund averaging 10% annually, they’ll have $320,372.28, at 11% becomes $428,632.80, 12% becomes $575,125.61, not including any Social Security income. The S&P 500 Index average annual returns since 1957 is 10.18% and the NASDAQ Index average annual returns since 1971 is 12.08%.

“First, the American economic system isn’t fair, and lower income people know this.” He’s right, yet the math and historical facts previously mentioned are correct regardless of Mayor Baker’s political and economic philosophy. The US economic system isn’t always fair. Minority and lower-income individuals have been subject to deplorable discrimination and unfair policies regarding housing, employment, etc.

Regardless of external pressures and circumstances, we all need to wisely manage our personal finances, have a budget, spend less than we make, avoid debt, save for a rainy day, retirement, and live generously. There are many free resources available on personal finance including the Kentucky Financial Empowerment Commission, https://kyfec.org/ .

“A sad commentary, where our American income system isn’t fair, but the lottery is. Also unfair was my initial dismissal of Lottery playing. It’s just one more symptom of the problem of income inequity in America, and assuming lottery players are ignorant is another way of blaming the victim.”

I’m ignorant about brain surgery, but that doesn’t mean I’m not intelligent.

Previously, I worked in drug and alcohol recovery care serving clients that experienced homelessness, generational poverty, addiction, abuse, trauma, etc. by providing hope, healing, and restoration. During that time, I learned that individuals in recovery have an intense sense of personal responsibility. They value their sobriety date more than anything because they know their addiction could have killed them. My friend Troy described it as his back pain, “when can I get the judge off my back, my Mom, girlfriend, etc. At the end of the day, I needed to get sober for me.”

The same mentality applies to our finances. They call it personal finance for a reason, because it’s personal. The 80/20 rule, 80% behavior, 20% knowledge. If I can control the person in the mirror, I can be skinny and rich.

If you chose to play the lottery, good luck, because it’s a game of chance, not skill. Don’t bet more than you can afford to lose. If you win, good for you. I hope you use the money wisely and first pay your taxes.

The National Problem Gambling Helpline (1-800-GAMBLER).

David Harris lives in Lexington and his email address is kydave82@gmail.com .