" The Fever " - state lotteries

My socio-political philosophy has been more influenced by Rod

    Serling of " Twilight Zone " fame than the ponderings of the venerable

    sage, Karl Marx. For example, the episode " The Fever " taught me a lot

    at an early age about the compulsive nature of gambling. At the end of

    this weird story the uptight character Franklin has been driven crazy

    by a diabolical " one arm bandit " machine in a Las Vegas casino. In

    a delirium the mechanical monster  taunting him ..." Franklin , Franklin,

    Franklin .." pushes him back to a window high above the street below . He

    crashes through the window and falls to a horrible death in the gutter.

        We do not even feel very sorry for him in the end. " The Fever " was

    lurking in his stingy, greedy ,warped soul all along.

       I read in this morning's  Providence Journal ( page A4 ,March 16 ) :

       " State lottery ads often stress hype over honesty "

      The same hypocritical state governments that stress " work-fare , not

    welfare ", pay $378 million a year " trying to convince people a lifetime

    of riches might be only as far away as a dollar and a splash of luck ."

         For little Rhode Island we have this alarming statistic : $549 million

    in lottery ticket sales; $549 per capita.

        Americans in general spend $158 a person a year on lottery tickets.

     I recall reading some time ago that our state  is right at top or number

    2  in the " problem drinker " category. Clearly alcoholism and gambling

    reinforce one another. If you win , you can celebrate with a drink; if

    you lose you can deaden the pain with a drink. But the House always wins.

         How many Franklins are there in Rhode Island ? The House takes their

    money and their liver. Sooner or later it takes their brain  and their

    soul.

        ...." Franklin, Franklin, ... Franklin !  "

      And into the gutter below !