Addiction can be a horrible thing. Once one gets used to a certain level of whatever the addictive substance is, the appetite becomes insatiable. Like Audrey II in "Little Shop of Horrors," the addiction demands "feed me!"
This all comes to mind, of course, with regard to our Arkansas Lottery Commission and its quenchless thirst for Arkansans' money. Last week, led by Commissioner Mark Scott of Bentonville, the commission voted to pursue implementation of electronic-monitor games as its newest turf for gamblers wiggin' for their own quick fix.
What’s The Point?
The Arkansas Lottery Commission confirmed last week its need for more of Arkansans’ money is insatiable and will continue to grow.
What's a monitor game? Lottery Director Bishop Woolsey says players will buy game cards from clerks at participating locations, but they won't have to wait the eternity between almost daily number draws by Powerball and MegaMillions, the two multistate lottery associations Arkansas has joined. Rather, these gamblers will be rewarded with a more immediate revelation of their losses. Numbers will be drawn every four or five minutes. A few players will win a few bucks here and there, but only enough to encourage them to keep funneling their money back into the potential for the big prize.
"Feeeeed me!"
Just how addicted to Arkansans' money is the lottery commission? Just the day before its decision to expand its money-sucking operations, Arkansas legislators tried for an intervention. The General Assembly's 12-member lottery oversight committee backed a motion of "nonsupport" for implementing precisely the type of game the lottery commissioners so badly want.
The new form of gambling will appeal to new players, the lottery's director opined.
"It's new money," said Woolsey, like the head of a cartel finally tapping tap a long-denied fertile population for his "product."
Oscar Wilde once said "I can resist everything except temptation," and that's precisely what our Arkansas Lottery Commission is counting on with their fellow Arkansans. The commission is feeling jittery about nearly two years of declining sales for existing lottery games. Immediacy and impulsivity, that's the winning combination.
As anyone could have predicted the moment the commission was created, it's sole purpose is to drain more money away from Arkansans with a promise of fast, easy riches. Any signs it's failing will lead to proposals for new methods of obtaining that money, such at monitor games.
Of course, those fully supportive of the lottery will say it's all good -- proceeds help fund college scholarships. So what's the harm?
Having a state agency designed to drain Arkansans' bank accounts with games and marketing geared toward impulsive involvement is not in the citizens' best interests.
"If this is introduced, what happens in four years?" asked state Sen. Robert Thompson of Paragould. "Is the Lottery Commission going to come forward and say, 'OK, we got to do something new now. People are sick of the current monitor games.' ... It almost seems to me like a race to the bottom where we have to constantly introduce new types of games to entice people to play."
Taking folks to the bottom is just fine with our lottery commissioners, as long as they keep paying to play along the journey.
A government by, for and of the people should not be busy every day working out new approaches to suck money out of the people with the false promise of a chance to win as the only payback.
Commentary on 04/20/2014