What We’ve Lost Playing the Lottery
Some people forget what it&#x27;s like to be resource-limited. Not so much that a lottery ticket will make or break you, but enough that you can&#x27;t afford to do the &quot;nice&quot; things like... go on a decent vacation, where 4 bucks a week isn&#x27;t going to amount to anything.<p>Now, if you go into the lottery with the idea that you&#x27;re gonna win, you don&#x27;t understand math. But if you buy a ticket every time the jackpot is above $100M, then you&#x27;re usually taking a short mental vacation by dreaming about what you&#x27;d be doing with the money. You could go on the internet and look at the vacation places you&#x27;d be going to, or the homes you&#x27;d like to live in, etc. It gives people with limited means a sense of freedom from the dull lives they&#x27;ve been living.<p>I&#x27;m not going to argue that the lottery isn&#x27;t predatory or that it&#x27;s a bad investment. I&#x27;m just saying that these stories usually result in comments where people with assets show their whole asses with disdain for people who aren&#x27;t well off. It&#x27;s not completely about the money or the math and it never has been... and for a generation that cringes every time boomers claim that Starbucks ate your savings, you&#x27;ve got some nerve complaining about people show spend $4 a week on a fantasy.