Being raised in what I believe to be one of these communities this feels very true. In Pennsylvania this supposedly supports seniors, but seniors often are the ones gambling. The most frequent shops for selling lottery tickets are also tobacco stores. I find it hard to resist a scratch off from time to time myself.

I don’t know what the solution is, I know it gives people hope and excitement. Even if they think it’s impossible to work themselves out of debt they hope they’ll “win big” one day keeps them going to an extent. It’s really just another version of the “Marshmallow Question” just with adults instead of kids. You could write it all down for them and spell it out, but to them the math wouldn’t work out.