Thursday, November 14, 2013

More On The Lottery

Have you ever spent a lot of time doing research on a subject, only to find people who haven't done the research arguing with you?

The lottery is a subject I've done some research on, yet every time I end up in a discussion on the subject, people want to disagree with me. I've researched lottery winners and how the lottery ends up destroying their lives. I can't find a single story about somebody who won the lottery and everything ended up being great.

I wrote a post back in 2007 on the lottery. I've written others, but this one I consider my greatest work on the subject.

I don't play the lottery. It's a government scam. Whenever I get in a conversation with somebody about the lottery, it usually goes like this:

Me: I don't play the lottery. I've done extensive research on the subject, and can't find an account of a single lottery winner who came out better than they went into it.

Other: That's just because they're poor and don't know how to handle money.

Me: No, many lottery winners are already successful business owners. The lottery still destroys their lives.

Other: There has to be somebody who won and came out ahead.

Me: If you find one, I'd love to add that story to my research. I've looked into it, including the use of expensive research databases, and I can't find one.

Other: It wouldn't happen to me. I wouldn't tell anybody I won. I'd give a bunch to charity and invest the rest.

I finally found the missing piece of the discussion. While some states do keep lottery winners anonymous (not all though; many do publish the winner), they do publish the store the winning ticket was sold at.

And that's what we're missing. So OK, Mr. Middle Class "It won't happen to me!". Lets run through this.

You win the lottery. Your state does its part to not let the scum of the earth know you're the winner. That still doesn't matter. Every half-wit who wants some of what you've got just goes to the store. Do you think the store has any reason to hide your identity? Don't count on it. A cash kickback to the clerk who sold you the ticket will give them what they need to know to track your ass down.

And you become yet another statistic of my lottery research.

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