...to me it's worth a buck to day dream about what I would do if I won
And others with similar statements.
To me that is the problem lotteries and perhaps all gambling. A dollar here or there is harmless. Or is it?
Once you have that ticket in your hand you can't help but start thinking what you would do with the winnings. Daydreaming all sorts of things.
Well every minute you spend doing that is a minute not thinking about what you can do here and now in the real world with the resources you have available. I minute diverted from other creative thought.
Summed up over millions of lottery players that starts to look like a gigantic waste of human capabilities.
On the other hand. Don't forget Bean, you can spend time daydreaming about what you would do if you won even if you don't buy the ticket! So save your money and buy more Propellers or such. Have your dollar go to creative purposes.
To me that is the problem lotteries and perhaps all gambling. A dollar here or there is harmless. Or is it?....
When people blow a few bucks on these lotteries, I find myself wanting to berate them for participating in the Stupidity Tax. But then I remind myself that, when only a few bucks are involved, it's much like somebody buying a cheap paperback novel - it provides a little bit of escapism and entertainment, so who am I to ruin their fantasy?
What's most tragic, however, is that many studies have shown that the people who spend the biggest percentage of their incomes on these lotteries are people who can least afford to do so. Low income people, working poor, etc. From that perspective, I find lotteries a bit regrettable. In that case lotteries look more like a Desperation Tax.
Like a lot of other Americans, Bill Isles bought Mega Millions lottery tickets on Thursday.
Later he joked with a friend that he had a better chance of getting struck by lightning than winning the record jackpot.
That night, Isles walked out into his backyard and got struck by lightning.
It was like, flash, bang, instantly, he said
"...when only a few bucks are involved, it's much like some body buying a cheap paperback novel - it provides a little bit of escapism and entertainment, so who am I to ruin their fantasy?"
I used to think the same. However it now seems to me that buying a lottery ticket or a cheap paper back are not equivalent "wastes" of a few dollars.
After years of buying cheap books or magazines or whatever one may have actually learned something along the way. At least there is some kind of input into your world. A lottery ticket has no such return. When buying a book or other such real product you are at least supporting an industry to produce that and encouraging imaginative people to create something. With a lottery ticket you are not. And so on.
Also I have often thought that winning a huge pile of money like that may well be the worst thing that could happen. All of a sudden you might lose all your friends, half of them will hate you because you give them nothing, the other half because you don't give them enough. You move into a different world where you can trust no one. Nightmare.
I think you should put that buck into a savings account or stuff it under your mattress instead of trying to win $640,000,000.00. At least you will be $639,999,999.00 away in reality to achieving that dream.
Dreams can be contagious, so maybe a chance to dream of something that one would not normally dare hope for can plant the seed of a dream that may become reality.
I only spend $5.00 and probably about 10 minutes day dreaming.
From time to time I get to hang out with guys who have huge piles of money. This is not normal for me. There does seem to be a reason why they have huge piles of money (apart from the one who inherit). They have big dreams. They spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about and talking about money, economics, interest rates, exchange rates, markets, politics, wheeling and dealing. The best of them end up getting very passionate about the things they invest in, learning a lot on the way. Case in point is one of the investors in the company I now work for who made his fortune from nothing in agriculture then moving into chemicals and property. He speaks passionately about all those things and can now speak knowledgeably to potential clients for software products.
Point is they have the dreams and the passion but also will not invest a cent into anything without serious consideration of the return and the risk.
They don't need that lottery ticket in hand to have the dreams and would consider it a bad investment.
I thought of something useful you could do with that money. As you probably know, many politicians are bought and paid for by large corporations. They need the money for TV ads to run for office.
Anyway buy a local TV station, then give free equal airtime to all politicians running for office. Then they will not need as much money to run for office. And will not be obligated to do the bidding of the corporations.
Maybe that idea would catch on and spread to other TV stations...
Comments
http://tlc.discovery.com/videos/lottery-changed-my-life-season-3-videos/
broke and homeless.
-dan
And others with similar statements.
To me that is the problem lotteries and perhaps all gambling. A dollar here or there is harmless. Or is it?
Once you have that ticket in your hand you can't help but start thinking what you would do with the winnings. Daydreaming all sorts of things.
Well every minute you spend doing that is a minute not thinking about what you can do here and now in the real world with the resources you have available. I minute diverted from other creative thought.
Summed up over millions of lottery players that starts to look like a gigantic waste of human capabilities.
On the other hand. Don't forget Bean, you can spend time daydreaming about what you would do if you won even if you don't buy the ticket! So save your money and buy more Propellers or such. Have your dollar go to creative purposes.
When people blow a few bucks on these lotteries, I find myself wanting to berate them for participating in the Stupidity Tax. But then I remind myself that, when only a few bucks are involved, it's much like somebody buying a cheap paperback novel - it provides a little bit of escapism and entertainment, so who am I to ruin their fantasy?
What's most tragic, however, is that many studies have shown that the people who spend the biggest percentage of their incomes on these lotteries are people who can least afford to do so. Low income people, working poor, etc. From that perspective, I find lotteries a bit regrettable. In that case lotteries look more like a Desperation Tax.
LINK: Wichita man hopes to win lottery; lightning strikes instead
Like a lot of other Americans, Bill Isles bought Mega Millions lottery tickets on Thursday.
Later he joked with a friend that he had a better chance of getting struck by lightning than winning the record jackpot.
That night, Isles walked out into his backyard and got struck by lightning.
It was like, flash, bang, instantly, he said
"...when only a few bucks are involved, it's much like some body buying a cheap paperback novel - it provides a little bit of escapism and entertainment, so who am I to ruin their fantasy?"
I used to think the same. However it now seems to me that buying a lottery ticket or a cheap paper back are not equivalent "wastes" of a few dollars.
After years of buying cheap books or magazines or whatever one may have actually learned something along the way. At least there is some kind of input into your world. A lottery ticket has no such return. When buying a book or other such real product you are at least supporting an industry to produce that and encouraging imaginative people to create something. With a lottery ticket you are not. And so on.
Also I have often thought that winning a huge pile of money like that may well be the worst thing that could happen. All of a sudden you might lose all your friends, half of them will hate you because you give them nothing, the other half because you don't give them enough. You move into a different world where you can trust no one. Nightmare.
I only spend $5.00 and probably about 10 minutes day dreaming.
C.W.
Point is they have the dreams and the passion but also will not invest a cent into anything without serious consideration of the return and the risk.
They don't need that lottery ticket in hand to have the dreams and would consider it a bad investment.
Anyway buy a local TV station, then give free equal airtime to all politicians running for office. Then they will not need as much money to run for office. And will not be obligated to do the bidding of the corporations.
Maybe that idea would catch on and spread to other TV stations...