Insight #351:
Did you hear that the price of a Mega Millions lottery ticket has increased from $2.00 to $5.00? It must be because of tariffs. Well, can you think of a sane reason for the increase? Not even inflation could cause that size price jump.
Maybe this is just another sign of the culture we live in. If you don’t need the winnings because you can afford $5 a pop, then you’re allowed to play. Something to do with “those who have shall be given more.”
If you live outside the Mega States, then you might think this piece is not for you. But stay with me, please. This piece is not so much about the lottery as it is about encouraging a mindset of sharing in collective winning.
The lottery spin doctors have tried to weave the increase as good news (you can admire their craft on-line if you are bored). But I’m not buying it. Then again, I haven’t bought a Mega Millions ticket in about a million years.
Here’s why I don’t buy it, in both meanings of above: Because not enough people are winners.
No, not because I’ve never been a winner. But because, as I said, too few people ever win.
Why is winning the top prize so statistically unlikely? Because we chose to make it so. We, the people who design the game and the people who play the game, have made the rules and accept those rules. There is no Law of Lottery, except as we create it.
So why on earth do we create a game where one winner takes almost all?
What if we make it easier for many people to win, for the wealth to be spread widely? What if, say, the one billion dollar prize puts lots of dollars in hundreds of pockets? What if those hundreds of winners boost the economy for all of us?
Oh, right. That would smack of socialism. That’s why we can’t allow it. Not in a country that still doesn’t understand the difference between communism and socialism. A country which would rather see citizens die of disease than offer free “socialist” healthcare for all.
It’s the same mentality that has so many managers still believing in a salesperson of the year instead of in sales people of the year. And why celebrating one top performer wrecks team culture. And why so-called also-rans give up and leave.
Don’t get me wrong. I do believe that winning is better than losing. But I believe so much in winning that I think more people should be able to win because we have made it possible for more players to win. Not just one lucky devil hitting The Jackpot, but many players claiming sizeable pots.
After all, what is a loser? No, a loser is not someone who has lost. A loser is someone who has given up trying to win.
Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.
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