Ethics is a set of moral rules and norms that determine the objectivity of behavior or interpret specific events from the standpoint of values supported by society. For instance, respect for older adults, honesty in interacting with others, compassion for people in difficult life situations, and other examples demonstrate how ethics is manifested in everyday life. In relation to a lottery as one of the elements of modern entertainment content popularized in the media, acute ethical controversies arise. On the one hand, the participation of a multimillion audience is a favorable aspect for a substantial and regular replenishment of the state treasury. However, from a social moral standpoint, the idea of getting rich instantly is not ethical and misleading. This paper aims to provide reasoning on whether lotteries can make everyone a millionaire and whether such an assumption is ethical in the context of the specifics of this gambling industry.
Making Players Millionaires
It is impossible to imagine that the lottery can make everyone a millionaire. If such an outcome were real, the state would not develop this industry since maintaining a stable inflow of funds into the state budget would be disrupted. According to Costes et al. (2018), the availability and ease of participation in lottery games expand the audience significantly, thereby increasing the amount of potential profit to the treasury. While taking into account the standard lottery rules and share of winnings, one can note that the percentage of real wins is negligible compared to the total number of participants involved. In addition, gambling funds are not limitless to pay out millions of winnings to all players. By paying out jackpots to lucky participants, lottery owners cover these costs from the proceeds from the sale of thousands of tickets. Therefore, making everyone a millionaire is a task that is not feasible not only from the standpoint of its financial unreality but also in the context of the lottery key principle implying revenues but not expenses.
Ethical Misconceptions
One of the ethical ambiguities about the lottery industry is the belief that this sphere has a goal of enriching participants. As Lutter et al. (2018) note, players have misconceptions that lottery founders seek to enrich the population. However, this practice is not possible for the reason that lottery funds are not regulated by non-profit organizations. The owners of this business set the goal of making money, and attempts to help people earn money are contrary to basic entrepreneurial canons. In addition, from an ethical standpoint, lottery draws are not a boon since the number of non-winning tickets is many times higher than the share of winnings. Lutter et al. (2018) remark that giving players false hopes is a means of retaining them and generating profits continuously. Thus, lottery owners never set the goal of making everyone a millionaire, which is unreasonable in the context of revenues generated by a large gaming audience.
Conclusion
The lottery industry is ethically ambiguous, and the belief that it aims to make everyone a millionaire is wrong. There is no need for the authorities to stop draws since they add significantly to the state treasury. The limit of lottery funds and direct entrepreneurial goals are objective reasons that explain the purely financial interest of lottery owners. Draws are not organized by non-profit organizations, and from an ethical standpoint, the assumption that lotteries aim to make everyone a millionaire is unfounded.
References
Costes, J. M., Kairouz, S., Monson, E., & Eroukmanoff, V. (2018). Where lies the harm in lottery gambling? A portrait of gambling practices and associated problems. Journal of Gambling Studies, 34(4), 1293-1311.
Lutter, M., Tisch, D., & Beckert, J. (2018). Social explanations of lottery play: New evidence based on national survey data. Journal of Gambling Studies, 34(4), 1185-1203.