Historian Jonathan D. Cohen has recently been making the rounds asking some important questions about whether operating a lottery is a proper thing for governments to do, and James Keys and Tunde Ogunlana take a look at Cohen’s rationale for questioning lotteries and discuss why so many in the land of free enterprise have seemingly accepted the idea of having the state-run lotteries as an alternative to taxation (01:11). The guys also discuss a recent piece in the Atlantic which makes the case that the overwhelming pessimism Americans seem to have on the future of the country is misguided (28:33).
What We’ve Lost Playing the Lottery (The New Yorker)
Here’s who really wins and loses in American lotteries (NPR)
What the Lottery Reveals About the American Dream (Apple News)
Despite Everything You Think You Know, America Is on the Right Track (The Atlantic)