The day I turned 18, I bought my first lottery ticket. See, I was the first person in my friend group to turn 18, and every single person who wished me would also ask me, “Hey, are you going to buy a lottery ticket? Because you can now?” So as soon as I came home, my mom and I (because I still didn’t have my driver’s license -- so independent) went to the local Safeway and I purchased my first CA Lottery ticket. I didn’t win, obviously. (I mean, I got one number on the ticket, and apparently that isn’t good enough for the lottery people -- so whatever.) But as I went to bed that night, I was rather confused with myself and my peers. Why were they so enamored with buying a lottery ticket? It wasn’t anything special. The odds of actually winning anything were extremely low. So what was the deal?
And then I realized that the reason kids my age are so obsessed with the lottery is because it's the most risqué thing that 18-year-olds can do without causing harm to themselves or changing their lives forever. It's legalized gambling. Even when we see ads about the state lottery, the disembodied voice tells us to “play the lottery,” not to “do the lottery.” But why is the lottery so prevalent among adults? Why do they not tell us to keep away from the lottery?
After all, the lottery is gateway gambling. In a segment of "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver," a woman explained how she became so addicted to playing state-sponsored video poker (similar to the state lottery) that she would leave the house to buy groceries and end up spending all of it on the game, leaving her and her boyfriend without any food. But, the government endorses the lottery, so it should be fine, right? After all, we’re helping fund schools. Contrary to popular belief, the government actually makes a lot more money on the lottery than what they give out. In 2013, the government made $68 billion from lottery ticket sales. But a CBS news segment showed that out of the 24 states in which lottery proceeds go towards education funding, the amount given was “down or flat” in 21. And it's not always even true that you can receive the money you win! In Illinois, people who won more than $600 prizes were told that they would not be receiving anything until Illinois had approved its own state budget.
Ultimately, the state lottery system draws us into buying a lottery ticket by playing on our hopes of being special. After all, if someone can win the lottery, why can’t that someone be me? We ignore the 1 in 292 million odds we actually have of winning and throw our money into the system, crossing our fingers for luck. Now, I’m not going to say that you shouldn’t play the lottery. Do whatever you want. I can’t stop you. (Hell, I’ll probably buy another ticket or two sometimes). I simply suggest that if you are going to pay into a system and hope for rewards, make sure you know exactly what you are getting into.
