Lottery Week not worthy of a celebration

It hardly seems worthy of a celebration. But the state of Wisconsin is in the midst of celebrating lottery week. It is, as the name implies, a week-long celebration, which, according to the Wisconsin Lottery, recognizes “the collective contributions made to communities in the U.S. and Canada.” I don’t know what Canada has to do with it, but just what are those contributions being made to communities they find so worthy of celebration? Sure, some people win here and there. And retailers which sell winning tickets get a percentage from the state. Also, the Wisconsin lottery proceeds benefit property tax relief, about $237 million in 2020. Without question, people like to play the games of chance, with the Wisconsin Lottery expecting to set sales records for a fourth straight year. As part of the celebration, Lottery social media accounts are giving people a chance to win prizes, like chip clips, sunglasses water bottles, zip bags and free scratch tickets. If they really wanted to show how the lottery helps communities, they would have not bought a bunch of trinkets and instead would have put that money into property tax relief. And perhaps we should reserve the celebrations for things that really matter, like the Bucks winning the NBA championship.