It Won’t Be You!
Why playing the lottery is a waste of time and money
You stare up at the clock that you have been gawping at for the last seven hours and wonder if this climatic feeling will last. Is it excitement, or is it a relief?
Those hands have been rubbing you up the wrong way for the last five days and will continue to symbolize the essence of work. This week, like most, has been entirely redundant. Surely there has to be more to life than this?! The Friday feeling punctures its way into your bloodstream as if stabbed with an adrenaline shot. Yet the buzz will slowly wear off as the weekend quickly plays out.
The sad realization that you will be back watching the same clock come Monday morning goes on the back burner. Thoughts of work suddenly evaporate as you skip down to the local shop and purchase a lottery ticket. You hold the ticket tightly with both hands in fear that a strong gust of wind will blow away your winning ticket. Placing your lips to its inked surface, you kiss it more passionately than your lover. In blind faith, you tell yourself: This is my golden ticket out of here.
The masses will continue to invest vast amounts of dinero on this unlikely dream to come to fruition. Some people use dates of significance, such as birthdays and door numbers. Others just let the machine randomly spew out a list of digits and hope by chance; they will be walking away with millions of pounds.
Whenever someone bores me with fantasies of winning the lottery, I can’t help but slip into a daydream. Almost tasting their desperation, I first start thinking about what I will be having for my dinner that evening. The second phase of the dream transports me to the fictional world of 1984. In this bizarre parallel universe, people are controlled and manipulated.
Here, the weekly lottery draw is a sham, and despite its legitimacy, it doesn’t exist. Instead, it creates phantom winners and then pretends to hand out fake sums of money to imaginary people. This totalitarian government has only one thing on its mind: Distract and oppress a group of people called ‘The Proles.’
“The lottery, with its weekly payout of enormous prizes, was the one public event to which the proles paid serious attention. It was probable that there were some millions of proles for whom the lottery was the principal if not the only reason for remaining alive.“ — George Orwell.
The general public is similar to the Proles in many regards; mirroring the book; those who organize these weekly extravaganzas are incredibly clever at manipulating the masses. They advertise in a deceiving way, often goading you to go out and buy a ticket. What have you got to lose?!
The euro millions top prize is €25 million. Before the fantasy takes hold, remember that there is only a staggering 1 in 139,838,160 chance of winning. Even more worryingly, this figure is advertised on their website for all to see. It is almost like watching a magician. You know that magic doesn’t exist, yet act mesmerized when he turns a pack of cards into a bouquet of flowers.
The irony of playing the lottery is a funny one. All of us before birth enter into the lottery of life. Before we pop out, each one of us is handed a ticket before taking our very first breath. Not one of us has any free choice in the matter. There is not a parent line up and a young unborn baby hand picking who its parents will be. Those of us born in the second half of the twentieth century, in a first world country, with plenty of opportunities, free education and health care are the lucky ones.
Why then buy a lottery ticket when you have already won?
Like most subjects, it often boils down to perspective. Let’s walk a mile in someone else’s shoes for a paragraph. Those less privileged, who was born in a third world country, surviving day to day, have no way of knowing where their next meal will come from. Yet the children out on the streets, through their hardships, might not have the latest PlayStation, or iPhone, yet they are utterly joyous, wheeling a broken tire down the road with a stick. They were not so fortunate in their lottery, yet they made the best of their situation, unlike us spoiled westerners.
Advancing at a phenomenal pace, I can’t help but accuse many first world countries of being primitive in the way it perceives money. Something in our development has gone drastically wrong. Happiness, or most people’s understanding of it, can now be bought at an inflated price.
Society in these countries dictates that the only way to reach fulfillment is by being wealthy. These ideas are not stated but shoved down our throats. The ideology is typical of the west’s backward and deranged understanding of what it means to live a good and healthy life.
So when the next lottery date comes round, think hard before you purchase a ticket and question: Do I need to put my hat into the ring? Compare how much you have won by how much you have lost. Tally up all those wasted hours scanning numbers and clinging to false hope. It is then clear for all to see — the lottery, my friends, has done a number on you.
Dean Middleburgh has travelled to over 85 countries and is in constant need of adventure. Over a ten year period, he has travelled far and wide armed with a backpack and one beaten up passport. How he has made it this far remains a mystery to most of the people that know him. You can find Dean on the island of Mallorca where he works on a 35-metre superyacht.
You can connect with him on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, or by following his Medium publication, Hit the Road. If you enjoyed this story check out more below:
