Bill_the_Bastard

I used to be very anti-lottery because it's nearly always a negative expected value proposition, and it's disproportionately funded by poor people.

But, as I grow older, I see some alternative value in them. Many people, especially older people, don't have any real possibility of 'life-changing money'. They're not going to get a great new job that launches them into a different economic stratum. They're not going back to school to start a lucrative new career.

The fantasy of winning allows them to temporarily dream of a better life, no matter how incredibly improbable it is. I think there's some intrinsic value in that for some people. For some people it's the only real hope they have, and it figures into their retirement 'plans'.

Sad fucking world we live in.

For a lot of people, I see it more as desperately grasping for any shred of hope available than 'entertainment'.

And, to be honest, your service sounds like it exploits the same psychological mechanisms. It's just a slightly different format, and the proceeds go to private gain rather than lottery-funded state programs.

WHAT? You think schools should actually teach the things that are necessary to be a healthy, functional member of society?

You're crazy, man.

Let's add civics to the list, though, so that some people might actually understand the government they're ostensibly supposed to participate in.

It's all a personal value judgement, man. If that hope of winning is worth more than, or even close to, $2 to you, it's a good purchase.

No judgement here.

Good luck!

wtf? I'm not romanticizing the lottery. I don't play the lottery. I've maybe put $20 in the last 5 years when the jackpots are huge.

I'm saying that I understand more than I used to why some people are drawn to it, which is because they lack hope.