When will our state join 36 other states and the District of Columbia and institute a lottery? I am a product of the public education system of eastern North Carolina and am proud to say so. Nevertheless, I know that my section of the state lags behind the rest in the aspect of public education.
In my high school of 1,500 students there were only a few computers in the school with Internet access when I graduated in 1999. It is an unexplainable paradox to have such a predicament in a state known for its strong tradition in the area of higher education. A majority of our state's voting public have called on our politicians to amend this lack of funding with a lottery. Our governor has tried in vain to persuade the largely Republican opposition whose frail argument against a lottery is that is a regressive tax on the poor.
Since when are even the poor not allowed to decide what to purchase with their money? I have never heard of anyone starving to death because they spent all of their money on lottery tickets. The real reason politicians are against a lottery is that they are in the back pocket of the tobacco industry. Big tobacco is out for its best interest; they know their product is elastic. Even the heaviest smoker could give up a few smokes in order to buy a lottery ticket. A smoker giving up just two cigarettes a day over the course of a year adds up about 36 packs.
At a price of $3 a pack, that is $108 a year kept from the coffers of tobacco firms. In a smoking state like North Carolina, that adds up to a lot of money. Let's face it, what is the better way to spend a dollar: at a shot in the dark at a dream of riches or on cigarettes? It is a personal choice that everyone should be allowed to make.
Jacob Starnes
Senior
History
