bootstrapping_lad

bootstrapping_lad t1_ja067vm wrote

You must have missed where I said "IMO", which is an abbreviation for "In my opinion", in case you didn't know that.

> If you think relatives knocking on your door for cash is worse than multimillion dollar fraud… 🙄

State money is never more valuable than people's lives or right to individual privacy. Winning the lottery has a well documented negative effect on the winner's well-being including multiple cases of the winner being murdered. Some winners self implode. I'm not taking about that. I'm talking about relentless hounding by friends, family, distant relatives, organizations, and strangers. Winners have been murdered.

Let's do some of those Google searches you helpfully suggest:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cbsnews.com/amp/news/florida-lottery-winners-bill-convicted-killer-dee-dee-moore-support/

https://www.ranker.com/list/lottery-winners-tragic-ends/derrick920

https://www.abc15.com/news/state/curse-of-the-lottery-why-winning-the-mega-millions-could-kill-you

https://www.google.com/amp/s/english.elpais.com/international/2022-09-21/brazilian-lottery-winner-murdered-after-being-kidnapped-for-prize-money.html%3foutputType=amp

I'm not saying that lottery fraud is never a problem, I'm saying that we should not be shifting the burden of that onto the winners, because staying anonymous is always the best course of action for the winner. Forcing their identity to be known puts a big target on their back and that is not debatable.

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bootstrapping_lad t1_j9ztz7e wrote

I don't buy that argument. I live in an anonymous state and have never heard a single person wonder about the legitimacy of the lottery. IMO it does more harm than good.

Of course there are anomalies like McDonald's, but that doesn't outweigh the burden it places on the winners.

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