# There is no justice in the world, or Why do the wrong people win the lottery? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 11, 2003, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740 "2003-07-11T16:13:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Morrigoon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/858c86/32.png) [@Morrigoon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morrigoon)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/21 "2003-07-11T19:33:26Z")
Aw hell, sorry about that. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/22 "2003-07-11T21:05:08Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Morrigoon \* > \*\* > As far as the lottery thing - I’d like to see someone win who knows how to use their $ to create more money (eg: someone who always wanted to start a business, or someone who knows how to invest it and live only off the income from it, not the principal.) Yeah, that would be cool. \*\* I’d put away al ot of the money and live off the income. But the rest of it I would use to start a business. Not a money-making business, though. It would probably bleed cash out the wazoo. But I’m not motivated enough to write the world-altering killer apps I dream of, I 'd pay someone else to do it 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/23 "2003-07-11T21:19:12Z")
> [@](#): > > Set aside $50/week for lottery tickets, but instead use the money to buy shares of a mutual fund. Assume the fund provides an average annual return of 10%. (10% is the long-term average for stocks.) In 39 years, you’ll have over a million dollars. **BORING!** 😃 ---
**Author:** ![december](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/838e76/32.png) [@december](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/december)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/24 "2003-07-11T21:43:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ArchiveGuy \* > \*\ ***BORING!** 😃 \*\* The time you’re accumulating the money is boring. The time you’re spending it is cool. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![MovieMogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f08c70/32.png) [@MovieMogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MovieMogul)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/25 "2003-07-11T22:45:19Z")
But let’s be honest (speaking as someone who spends less than $5/year on the lottery): People don’t play the lottery to win $1M (or at least a lot of people don’t); they play to win substantially more than that, usually an amount that is otherwise unreachable in their lives, even with the best financial planners and frugal discipline. ---
**Author:** ![Blalron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/35a633/32.png) [@Blalron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blalron)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/26 "2003-07-11T23:03:55Z")
Damn poor people, not investing money they don’t have! You just don’t get it. The demographic that buys most of the lottery tickets can’t AFFORD to put 50 bucks a week into investment. A $1 lottery ticket isn’t an investment, it’s a faint glimmer of hope for an otherwise dreary life. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/27 "2003-07-11T23:20:24Z")
How about the guy from here in Louisiana who won a few months ago? One of my friends was hideously distressed. He was her handyman. He was the ONLY one who for ten years could make one of their toilets work correctly. But for some strange reason, upon winning the lottery, he was no longer intested in spending his time making her toilet work correctly any more! The _nerve_ of the guy! ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/28 "2003-07-11T23:25:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blalron \* > \*\*Damn poor people, not investing money they don’t have! > > You just don’t get it. The demographic that buys most of the lottery tickets can’t AFFORD to put 50 bucks a week into investment. > > A $1 lottery ticket isn’t an investment, it’s a faint glimmer of hope for an otherwise dreary life. \*\* But the problem is that while they can’t afford to invest $50 a week they do spend $50 a week on the lottery. Obviously not everybody does that but an awful lot of people do. ---
**Author:** ![hebesphenomegacorona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@hebesphenomegacorona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hebesphenomegacorona)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/29 "2003-07-11T23:33:27Z")
hey, I’ll see what color hayseed blood is… Anyways, they should damn well get a fucking expensive tractor and refridgerator. ---
**Author:** ![Q.N.Jones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/3da27b/32.png) [@Q.N.Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.N.Jones)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/30 "2003-07-11T23:35:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Blalron \* > \*\*A $1 lottery ticket isn’t an investment, it’s a faint glimmer of hope for an otherwise dreary life. \*\* Ahem. Who says every person of little means has a dreary life? I grew up in an old blue collar/semi-rural town that a bunch of yuppies turned into a white collar suburb. Some of my best friends have been downright _poor_. Living below the poverty line poor. Some of them have been on welfare at various times in their lives. Most of them sound like the Walkenbachs. These folks do not consider their lives dreary. In fact, some of them have a hell of a lot more fun than I do, and I take home a fat paycheck from my la-tee-dah fancy lawyer job. They are not miserable because they don’t have enough money for everything they might ever want. They make do, get along without, and get over it. Poverty isn’t a barrel of laughs, but they don’t let it suck all the joy out of life, either. My friends would be totally offended by this kind of pity. (But, unfortunately, they aren’t here to tell you so because they can’t afford PCs and Internet connections.) They’d love the money and to be able to get out of debt, buy a house that didn’t have dry-rot, and send the kids to college, but they aren’t pinning their every last hope on that lottery ticket. Sorry about the hijack. I lost my head a bit there. ---
**Author:** ![FisherQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/58f4c7/32.png) [@FisherQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FisherQueen)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/31 "2003-07-11T23:42:46Z")
I spent a lot of time working in factories in my youth, and I didn’t know anyone who was spending that kind of money on lottery tickets. The most popular way to buy them was in pools- a group would each kick in a dollar (or five, if that’s what they agreed on), and agree to share any winnings with the whole group. A group I worked with actually won the big one one summer- divided up, and taxed, it came to just under a million each. Not bad. The foreman decided not to quit his job. They did, however, take the whole shop out to Pizza Hut to celebrate, which I thought was nice of them. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/32 "2003-07-11T23:50:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by gobear \* > \*\*as opposed to drunken wastrels who would fritter away their cash on worthless pursuits. \*\* Did you not read the OP? He said margaritas and whores on the beach. What are these worthless persuits of which you speak? Oh, did it have something to do with the firetrucks? ---
**Author:** ![hebesphenomegacorona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@hebesphenomegacorona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hebesphenomegacorona)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2003, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/33 "2003-07-11T23:50:42Z")
Ugh. Let’s try that again. hey, I’ll see what color hayseed blood is… Anyways, they should damn well get a fucking expensive tractor and refridgerator ---
**Author:** ![World\_Eater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@World\_Eater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/World_Eater)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/34 "2003-07-12T00:02:00Z")
Well if I won, the first thing I would buy is a solid gold helicopter. Everyone should have one. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/35 "2003-07-12T05:44:50Z")
I assuage my guilt about buying a lottery ticket by waiting until the pool is greater than the odds\* which means over the l-o-o-n-g run, I’ll be money ahead. It means I go weeks with no play sometimes, but that’s the way it goes. And it ain’t no $50, either. More like a maximum of five. \*Except Powerball. 120-millon is just too mind-bogglingly big. I buy at 60-mil for that one. DD ---
**Author:** ![jackelope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@jackelope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackelope)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/36 "2003-07-12T09:21:59Z")
“I want a walk-in humidor!” Ah yes, the lottery should never be won by hardscrabble folk who need the money for useful stuff. C’mon, they’re _used_ to being poor, can’t they take it for another couple of decades until they die? Sheesh. Folks, you will never win the lottery. The lottery is not about people getting rich. It is, however, selling a valuable product: It is selling Hope, one day and one dollar at a time. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/37 "2003-07-12T11:27:17Z")
**december** , I don’t put $50 a week into lottery tickets. I haven’t got $50 to spare. For the past couple of weeks, as the jackpots been growing into unreal numbers (at least not real to this working stiff), I’ve been putting $5.00 a shot into the office pool of tickets. To me, it’s $5.00 worth of dreams. Thanks to this board, I’ve got friends scattered around the world. I liked thinking about the **Seige** ’s World-Wide Dopefest Tour thread I would have started in MPSIMS if I’d won. I liked the idea of going to various charities and saying “What do you need?” I also admit that, so help me, I’d like to own a convertible again. I’ve got a reasonable variety of things I waste my money on. Heck, a half-gallon of ice-cream or a magazine costs about $5 these days, as does anything more than a fast-food lunch out. I could just have easily have gone down to Dave & Busters wasted $5.00 on video games, and quite possibly more. I also spent as much on the new Harry Potter book a few weeks, and I splurged a bit and bought new audio CDs this week. I don’t play the lottery on a daily basis, and I’m appalled at those who regularly plonk down money on a 1,000:1 shot that pays 500:1. I don’t have business acumen, so if I’d won, my first move would have been to find a good financial manager. On the other hand, if the media had asked me what I was going to do, I probably would have made a comment about finally getting to meet some old friends and doing a lot of travelling. I might have had presence of mind to mention the church’s needing a new roof, but I only just found out about that. I would have told you folks that **Polycarp** and I are both getting first class tickets to Maine, to be followed by The Ultimate Dopefest. I’ll take my $1 or $5 worth of dreams. If you don’t like it, you need not come to my fantasy Dopefest. CJ ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/38 "2003-07-12T12:44:31Z")
The rules of the lottery are simple: You buy a ticket and if the numbers come up, you win. There are no other qualifications. I remember when a 20 year old woman in Georgia won a multimillion dollar jackpot with the first ticket she ever bought. People were complaining: It’s not fair. I’ve bought tickets for years and never won. So what? It’s a game of luck. ---
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/39 "2003-07-12T15:33:29Z")
Gee, if cosmic justice is based on who wins the lottery/how they spend the money, then you’d probably hate me- If I won that kind of money, I’d be giving most of it away. Sure, 200 million dollars would make me set for life, but it wouldn’t be hard to make it so that my friends are family are set for life too. A few weeks ago I heard a proverb which I think fits here. Basically to the effect of- “The true joy of generosity is spreading it around, but greed can take care of itsef” ---
**Author:** ![SnoopyFan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d07c76/32.png) [@SnoopyFan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SnoopyFan)\ **Post date:** [July 12, 2003, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740/40 "2003-07-12T21:42:06Z")
I’d rather see people like the winners in Missouri win it than the fresh-out-of-jail idiot in Ashland KY that won the powerball a couple of years ago. His stupidity knows no bounds. I think he’s the missing link. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/there-is-no-justice-in-the-world-or-why-do-the-wrong-people-win-the-lottery/187740.md?page=3)