The lottery is the only chance in the world for someone to win a dream in an instant. Of course, Rick states that "way too many times" lottery winners will squander their newfound fortune. However, ask any one of the thirteen machinists from Ohio if they are not better off than they were before they won the Powerball. Are they, or any other lottery winner, really cursed as my fellow Fool asserts with the burden of an "upgraded, yet ultimately temporary lifestyle?" Some may be, but who would not be happy enough to at least have had the opportunity to succeed or fail?
Sure, I could present the risk-reward ratio, as well as other statistical models for when to play the lottery, but the truth is I play because there are externalities that are not quantifiable in statistical analysis. Such intangibles include the joy of dreaming about what you would do if you won or sharing the experience with the other dreamers in line while waiting to buy your ticket. I like the feeling just before you check your numbers -- the feeling that this could be a very big moment. When I don't win, I still feel it was a dollar well spent.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we should all trade our day jobs to become professional lottery players. I just think every once in awhile we need to throw away calculated reason and revisit the childish notion that anything and everything is possible. Maybe it's like getting struck by lightning. Remember Roy Sullivan, a retired forest ranger from Virginia, who survived seven lightning strikes! What are the odds of that?
Sure, one could say that lotteries prey on those individuals less likely to understand the odds of winning and that possibly the "novelty impulse will grow into a gambling addiction." But couldn't you also say that about alcohol, tobacco, firearms, or most anything in life -- like going to the movies? In life, everything has its associated risks where there is a possibility of people making bad decisions about when and how they will participate. The lottery is no different.
The thought of a T-shirt clad Edible squirreling away all the acorns of his labor for his eventual safe and placid retirement makes me very sad -- very sad, indeed. Life is uncertain. It's about saving and investing your money, but it's also about taking vacations and dreaming.
Keep in mind that whether or not you choose to play the lottery, you can and hopefully will support its existence. There are many people who like to play for the same reasons I do or for different ones; whatever drawbacks there are to the lottery, those are outweighed by what it can provide. Give me the real innocence of Wonka's dream lottery, not some grown-up's demented spin on a wonderful notion.
This Week's Duel