Mike, Charlie, and a tax on the poor

Three thoughts, two directly from the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, one as a derivative thought.

Mike Teavee
Willy Wonka says, "You. You're Mike Teavee. You're the little devil who cracked the system."
Mike Teavea says, "All you had to do, is track the manufacturing dates, offset by weather and the derivative of the Nikkei index. A retard could figure it out."
and, "Die! Die! Die! In the end, I only had to buy one candy bar."
The fact that he doesn't like chocolate only makes me more impressed by him.
Ok, he has some rough edges. From appearances, he hasn't been brought up very well, but the kid is busting with potential. He's a genius who should be snatched up by the CIA who could turn his powers for the good against various crime cells and terrorist organizations.
Anyway, my point is that Mike is portrayed as a villian who cheated to get the ticket. In my mind, he is the only one who earned it.
So, Meridy tried to help me understand. She said people might think he cheated because he wasn't the "lucky winner" the contest envisioned. This leads us to the lucky lotto winner...

Charlie
Willy Wonka says, "And you, well you're just lucky to be here, aren't you?"
Charlie says......well, I couldn't find any good quotes from him. He did share his birthday chocolate with his family. That is commendable.
But my point with Charlie has to do with his economic mishaps. He is a poverty sticken boy whose father, the family's only breadwinner, is out of work. So he wins the lottery. He gets a Golden Ticket, and he squanders it.
Now you are, no doubt, in an uproar about me saying he squandered his golden ticket. Hear me out. This Golden Ticket has a dollar value on the market. You'll see, if you watch the videos, that he is offered $500 by someone who is trying to sucker him. I'm pretty sure a lot of people would be willing to pay millions of dollars for that ticket. Let's put a price tag on it, say, 2 million dollars. He could sell that ticket, buy a real house for his family out in the country where his grandparents' failing health could improve. He could set up an annuity to support his family for years. He could set up a college fund (for self-actualization purposes if nothing else) for himself and pay for his father to get some training so he could be more valuable in the workforce. Does he do it? No. He spends that 2 million dollars and a trip to a chocolate factory. Talk about fiscal irresponsibility. This leads us to the unlucky lotto victims.

I was listening to NPR the other day --ok, once in a while I listen to NPR, sorry. Anyway, they were discussing whether or not Nevada should implement a state lottery to help pay for education. One guy called in and said that's what the progressive jackpots at the casinos are. I think he's right, but the commentators all wanted a lottery. I wanted to call in and say, "I have never heard anyone put forth this argument against having a lottery, and I think people should hear it. A lottery is like a tax on the poor."
In the name of education, state governments are miseducating the poor. Maybe my expectations of the gov. are too high.
Here is a quote from an article that says what I'm talking about,
"studies show that the heaviest lottery players -- the 20% of players who contribute 82% of lottery revenue -- disproportionately are low-income, minority men who have less than a college education. That has fueled a vociferous anti-lottery movement. "It really is government undercutting what government's role should be," which is encouraging people in financial straits to be responsible with their money, says Tom Grey of the National Coalition Against Legalized Gambling."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03MuzHC-mWA&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DJuTx3CTXeI&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xad7iOBfI2c&feature=related
http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=lottery+and+poverty