RE: RE: RE: RE: RE: House Passes State Lottery Bill

Steve Brenneis responds to Behethland B. Clark:

No one is trying to dictate where people spend their dollar. Your argument implies that the lottery is a tax on stupidity. I agree. The odds of you winning are slightly less than those that you will spontaneously undergo a gender change in the next fifteen minutes. Just because it is a voluntary tax doesn't make it less of a tax.

You want the nanny state to force people to give money for the betterment of others (welfare, Medicare, etc.), you want the state to force us to save for our own retirement and pay for the retirement of others who earn less than we do (social security), but you don't want the state to tell people they can't throw money away on a pipe dream. What am I missing?