The lottery is a gambling game in which people pay a small sum of money to have the chance of winning a large amount. It has been around for centuries and is used to raise money for a variety of causes, from hospitals to disaster relief to state budgets. While some people play it for fun, others consider it a serious financial decision that can be a good way to invest. Regardless of how people use it, there is no doubt that the lottery is a popular and lucrative form of fundraising.
There is a certain inextricable human impulse to gamble, and lotteries exploit that by dangling the promise of instant riches. They know what they’re doing and they do it well with billboards that say things like “Mega Millions” and “Powerball.” Even when the odds of winning are quite low, there is something about the prospect of a large jackpot that attracts a lot of people.
Lotteries have long been part of American life, but their popularity exploded in the nineteen sixties as states struggled to balance their budgets without increasing taxes or cutting services that were very popular with voters. The booming economy of the immediate postwar period was coming to an end, and as the costs of war, inflation, and population growth began to mount, states found themselves in dire straits.
The lottery’s defenders argued that since people were going to gamble anyway, why not let the government collect the profits? That argument had its limits, and Cohen argues that it did nothing to diminish the moral objections to the idea. It also wildly inflated the impact that lotteries would have on state finances, a claim that was eventually proved false.
Nevertheless, it was this message that resonated with many, and the result was that state governments across the country began to legalize the lottery. It was a win for the gambling industry and it was also a victory for states that needed to raise money quickly in an increasingly anti-tax climate.
But it was also a loss for the people who played the lottery, and especially those in the bottom quintile of the income distribution, who were most likely to buy tickets. These are the folks who spend a significant portion of their disposable income on these tickets, and who don’t have much left over for discretionary spending or opportunities for the American dream. They have no real hope for getting out of their current situation besides the chance that they will win the lottery. And that’s why the numbers that they select are so important – they represent their last, best, or only chance to change their lives.
