If you want to strike it rich quick, the lottery is your best bet. Of course we all know that the likelihood of getting your numbers called and winning tens of millions of dollars is extremely unlikely.
But that's part of the fun, isn't it? The randomness of who wins the lottery also gives it this mysterious and hopeful quality about it that keeps people coming back again and again in case the stars align and they are able to bring home some major moolah.
Not only does the lottery provide some entertainment, optimism and a life-changing opportunity for people all over the United States, but it's also been touted as a big funder of awesome causes like education. With all of that in mind, only good could come from the lottery, right? Well, as John Oliver showed us during his monologue on the Nov. 9 episode of Last Week Tonight, that assumption is very, very wrong.
In the wake of some big lottery winnings this week, Oliver analyzed this beloved American tradition and how it really affects our lives. Other than being "the second-best use of magic marker on pingpong balls after Kermit the Frog's eyes," there is so much more going on with the lottery than we may realize.
But come now. Is that really surprising for what is basically a tamer form of gambling?
Nevertheless, the lottery is big business, raking in $68 billion in sales in 2013, which is more money than movie tickets, music, porn, the NFL, Major League Baseball and video games brought in combined. As Oliver puts it, "Americans spend more on the lottery than they spend on America." Yes, indeed.
While that must be doing something for the economy, and some of the money does go to good causes, the lottery has its downsides, too. Millions of people, many of them low-income, blow a ton of money on the lottery with nearly impossible chances of winning. Winners often end up squandering their earnings or fearing that someone will try to steal their fortunes. And the lottery may not be as effective at funding causes such as education as the states advertise. Go figure.
In the end, playing the lottery may be just like any other vice, except that it's backed by the state.
Check out the full segment below.
Image: HBO
