The latter, suggests Jennifer Roback Morse, is morally and spiritually corrupting not only to recipients, but to the rest of society. Morse, an economist at the Center for the Study of Public Choice at George Mason University, believes the moral costs of the welfare state should receive more attention. It tempts potential recipients to abuse the system, since in many cases poverty doesn't merely happen to a person, but is the result of personal choices. The final temptation of the welfare state may be to regulate the personal choices of recipients, since these choices determine whether or not they become impoverished or stay in poverty. Private charity appears to be the way out of the moral dilemma of the welfare state.
Critics claim the benefits of lotteries have been oversold, while the costs to society are ignored.
Although more than half of all state lottery revenues are dedicated to education, they are more often used as a substitute for other funds. Rather than improving state economies, lotteries simply transfer wealth from the many to the few, and ticket sales decrease other retail purchases by about the same amount. Ticket sales are highest in neighborhoods with the lowest income levels and the highest proportion of minority residents. The poor are more likely to play than any other income group, and spend a larger faction of their income. There are also studies showing lotteries create societal costs that have to be weighed against income to the state.