POLL: 'Moral' obligation for a jackpot winnerPrev TopicNext Topic

• Coin Toss

  

  Zeta Reticuli Star System
  United States
  Member #30,469
  January 17, 2006
  11,788 Posts
  Offline
  Jun 25, 2007, 6:18 pm

  ▲▼

  Does a jackpot winner have a 'moral' or ethical obligation to leave their job, in order to free that job up for someone who really needs it?

  I'm talking a sizeable jackpot that would let someone retire if they wanted to. 

  We're not talking about a business owner here, but someone working hourly wage or salary at a normal run of the mill blue collar or white collar job.

  I'm thinking they should leave that job to inded free it up for someone who needs it, as they don't anymore, and also it's going to get harder and harder for them to relate to the crowd they've been working with.
  

  Those who run the lotteries love it when players look for consistency in something that's designed not to have any. So many systems, so many theories, so few jackpot winners. 

  

  There is one and only one 'proven' system, and that is to book the action. No matter the game, let the players pick their own losers.
• stavros

  

  Florida
  United States
  Member #6,147
  August 8, 2004
  1,396 Posts
  Offline
  Jun 25, 2007, 6:29 pm

  ▲▼

  I'm not sure.  Many people love their job, and they get great satisfaction out if it.  It would have to be an individual decision, and I don't think it has anything to do with morality or ethics.  If you want to keep your job, then keep it.  If you want to retire, then retire.  At this stage of my life, I would retire, however, I am self-employed.

  Good Luck!

  Stavros

   
• Guru101

  

  Indiana
  United States
  Member #48,723
  January 7, 2007
  1,961 Posts
  Offline
  Jun 25, 2007, 6:30 pm

  ▲▼

  I don't think they do.
  

  Gonna win.
• Coin Toss

  

  Zeta Reticuli Star System
  United States
  Member #30,469
  January 17, 2006
  11,788 Posts
  Offline
  Jun 25, 2007, 7:28 pm

  ▲▼

  Ok, let's take this one more step. Two people in the same town. One can't get hired because there are no openings, and one hit a jackpot for let's say $48,000,000. 

  So the one who can't get hired has to be thinking, "Sure, no work for me and he has $48 million and a job."

  Those who run the lotteries love it when players look for consistency in something that's designed not to have any. So many systems, so many theories, so few jackpot winners. 

  

  There is one and only one 'proven' system, and that is to book the action. No matter the game, let the players pick their own losers.
• emilyg

  

  50

  United States
  Member #14
  November 9, 2001
  31,614 Posts
  Offline
  Jun 25, 2007, 7:36 pm

  ▲▼
  In response to Coin Toss

  Quote: Originally posted by Coin Toss on Jun 25, 2007

  Ok, let's take this one more step. Two people in the same town. One can't get hired because there are no openings, and one hit a jackpot for let's say $48,000,000. 

  So the one who can't get hired has to be thinking, "Sure, no work for me and he has $48 million and a job."

  imho       no

  love to nibble those micey feet.

   

                               
• MIlottoplayer

  

  Grand Rapids, Michigan
  United States
  Member #53,006
  June 19, 2007
  67 Posts
  Offline
  Jun 25, 2007, 7:43 pm

  ▲▼

  I don't think a huge jackpot winner has a "moral" or ethical jackpot to leave their job.  I think most people would leave their jobs, but the majority of those people who do leave their jobs after a windfall aren't doing it to be "moral" or good to their fellow man.  They leave pretty much for purely selfish reasons to go travelling or spend more time with their family...which is perfectly fine in my mind.  So mark me down as NO.
• BevsPicks2

  

  EAST COAST, USA
  United States
  Member #49,426
  January 31, 2007
  554 Posts
  Offline
  Jun 25, 2007, 7:48 pm

  ▲▼

  no.
• truecritic

  

  Michigan
  United States
  Member #22,394
  September 24, 2005
  1,583 Posts
  Offline
  Jun 25, 2007, 7:48 pm

  ▲▼

  Following that same line of thinking, everyone working at Ford Motor that makes $50,000/yr (or more) should quit because they have $50,000 plus a job and I don't.

  I don't think anyone should quit if they don't want to, whether they like the job or some other reason.
• justxploring

  

  Wandering Aimlessly
  United States
  Member #25,359
  November 5, 2005
  4,461 Posts
  Offline
  Jun 25, 2007, 7:54 pm

  ▲▼

  "someone working hourly wage or salary at a normal run of the mill blue collar or white collar job"

   

  Absolutely!

   

  (although my vote was "they'll quit anyway")
• Coin Toss

  

  Zeta Reticuli Star System
  United States
  Member #30,469
  January 17, 2006
  11,788 Posts
  Offline
  Jun 25, 2007, 8:03 pm

  ▲▼

  truecritic

  Not that same thing for the Ford workers, although they are well paid, they need the job.  Nobody puts years on an assembly line for fun.

  The jackpot winner no longer needs the job.  

  MIlottoplayer

  This is priceless, I kow it's a Freudian slip, but still, priceless:

  "I don't think a huge jackpot winner has a "moral" or ethical jackpot to leave their job..."

   

  Justxploring, agreed, I think they will eventually quit anyway. All the "I'm going to keep working" in the world is only going to last until the first time they get really ticked off.  Then "keep working" is going to quickly turn into a well known country song!

  Those who run the lotteries love it when players look for consistency in something that's designed not to have any. So many systems, so many theories, so few jackpot winners. 

  

  There is one and only one 'proven' system, and that is to book the action. No matter the game, let the players pick their own losers.
• MIlottoplayer

  

  Grand Rapids, Michigan
  United States
  Member #53,006
  June 19, 2007
  67 Posts
  Offline
  Jun 25, 2007, 8:12 pm

  ▲▼
  In response to Coin Toss

  Quote: Originally posted by Coin Toss on Jun 25, 2007

  truecritic

  Not that same thing for the Ford workers, although they are well paid, they need the job.  Nobody puts years on an assembly line for fun.

  The jackpot winner no longer needs the job.  

  MIlottoplayer

  This is priceless, I kow it's a Freudian slip, but still, priceless:

  "I don't think a huge jackpot winner has a "moral" or ethical jackpot to leave their job..."

   

  Justxploring, agreed, I think they will eventually quit anyway. All the "I'm going to keep working" in the world is only going to last until the first time they get really ticked off.  Then "keep working" is going to quickly turn into a well known country song!

  Yeah, I can't believe I wrote it that way.  It is funny the way it came out.  Obviously you know what was on my mind, but at least you got my point. I think my brain works too fast sometimes for my fingers to keep up!
• RJOh

  

  100

  mid-Ohio
  United States
  Member #9
  March 24, 2001
  20,272 Posts
  Offline
  Jun 25, 2007, 8:16 pm

  ▲▼
  In response to Coin Toss

  Quote: Originally posted by Coin Toss on Jun 25, 2007

  Ok, let's take this one more step. Two people in the same town. One can't get hired because there are no openings, and one hit a jackpot for let's say $48,000,000. 

  So the one who can't get hired has to be thinking, "Sure, no work for me and he has $48 million and a job."

  OK, let's take it another step.  The guy who can't get hired is thinking, "Sure, no work for me and he has $48 million and a job." 

  So the lottery winner quits his job and a young, single and more qualified guy gets his job so does the guy who can't get hired start thinking "Sure, no work for me and he's single with no family and gets the job, he could've got a job anywhere."

  WHEN DOES THIS GUY START TAKING RESPONSIBILITY FOR HIS OWN SITUATION? 

  Had he been qualified he might have had that job instead of the lottery winner.

  Does he thinks it's the moral responsibility of others to dumb down and have less so he can have more?  Sounds like when I was in grade schools and the dumber kids blamed the smarter kids for inflating the grading curve which caused them to fail.

   * you don't need to buy every combination, just the winning ones * 

         
  
• bambini

  

  United States
  Member #34,265
  March 1, 2006
  188 Posts
  Offline
  Jun 25, 2007, 8:56 pm

  ▲▼

  I am an AMERICAN, I have no moral sentiments, period!
• mountainman

  

  Georgia
  United States
  Member #49,382
  January 29, 2007
  113 Posts
  Offline
  Jun 25, 2007, 9:18 pm

  ▲▼

  Since we have brought up the assembly line in Michigan, from what I have heard those 50 a year jobs are starting to disappear. 50 or 60 really ain't that good in Michigan or the Northeast. Right on man, you are exactly right, this is what is wrong with the education system in the U.S., and it is robbing most of the kids of a decent education. When I was younger, going to the public school down the block wasn't humiliating, because the C.E.0's kid did too.
• pacattack05

  United States
  Member #17,554
  June 22, 2005
  5,582 Posts
  Offline
  Jun 25, 2007, 9:40 pm

  ▲▼

  Rjoh made a good point. But i'd like to elaborate on that a bit.

  We first have to define morality, and it's varied roots. You think the powerball odds are high?...LOL

  Given the complexity of the variables involved, may lead someone to believe the task of pointing out the correct one would be a monumental ordeal. And they would be right.

  Cows are worshipped in India. They are pretty much allowed to do, and go anywhere they want with no impedence. Much like Monks who cherish, even the most basic life forms with respect.

  And everyone in between.

  Sure it would be nice to give up your seat in order to allow someone else to benefit. And again, that's a good thing. But sometimes in this awkward world of never ending surprises, comes into play and defies all the rules. Not that I'm condoning going against the grain to cause a stir, but just an observation of possibilities, or situations that might seem illogical at first, but have a long term purpose.

  For example, you decide that by giving up a seat might be a nice thing. A moral compass is in you. You meant well. But, hypothetically, the person you gave your job to is sitting in the seat at work the next day, and a commercial jet came right through your window. Does this make sense?

  The reason I brought that up was that I believe  a similar thing happened to me, but the opposite.

  At one point in NY working with a market research company, it got to a point where the sales people weren't living up to the expectations of their employers . That slow degradation led the employers to lay off 8 people, which some were sales people and other workers.. I was one of them.

  About 3 years later, after the layoff, I find out that the exact places I frequented on an almost daily basis were brought to the ground. That being the twin towers. If it had not been for the company I was working for, laying me off, I could have easily been  working there at the market research co. till that eventful moment in history. BTW, I usually picked up proposals about that same time.

  This is of course just my opinion. I like to break things down until I see the parts that make up the whole. I tend to see healthy prespectives as the evolutionary process thinks away. Problem solving.

  There will always be a gray area in every answer. Nothing is written in stone.

  So I think the moral to my story is that let things flow as if they are acting the part. Intervention with good intent could be as detrimental as an evil discourse. Not to say that good deeds should be discouraged, but in my opinion, they shouldn't be pushed. It's like forcing a woman to give birth in 7 months, rather than letting it run it's natural course. It would be like me persuading my employers to keep me, and doing a very fine job. I convince them....Push them....and probably not been able to sit here typing away, because I could have easily been there in the towers.  Not saying one is more likely than the other, but just looking at maybe just a couple of examples, possibilities, which I'm sure there are much more of.

  In the case you present, I would give up the seat, and take my chances. Because in the long run, as I stated with my experience, it really doesen't matter. What's going to happen will happen, despite the varied expectations of the masses.