September 5, 2008
Is the lottery a scam to tax the poor? truth or lie
How the Lottery Can Ruin Your Life
The article below is from Dave Ramsey. You can visit the original, using this link
Perhaps the quickest way to ruin your life is to win the lottery.
Don’t laugh. Lots of people think that instantly coming into a few million dollars means life on easy street, money that will be around forever, and no need for responsibility or work.
The truth is very rarely does it work out like that for a lottery winner. Unfortunately, a new study published in the Journal of Behavioral Decision Making finds that people who feel poor are more eager to spend money in an attempt to get rich (this is a good “duh” moment). One recent report found that families who make under $12,400 spend about $645 a year on lottery tickets.
Many poor people are fooled by what they think it means to win the lottery. It’s usually the worst thing that could ever happen to someone.
Coming into a quick pile of cash usually means that people will come out of the woodwork looking to get a piece of your pie. Third cousins whom you didn’t even know existed will call and hit you up for money. You’ll get letters in the mail from complete strangers with every sob story imaginable (unemployed, sick children, in a wheelchair, etc.) in an attempt to get sympathy points and money from you. It puts a big target on your back, and most often it takes you out, too.
When you are feeling the money crunch, the last thing you want to do is spend what little money you have on a super-long shot for money. The odds of winning a lottery are literally about 1 in 125 million.
- You are 66 times more likely to die from a snake bite.
- You are 2,001 times more likely to die in the electric chair!
- You are 2,201 times more likely to die from a hornet, wasp or bee sting.
- You are 1,488,095 times more likely to die in a car wreck on the way to the gas station to buy the lottery ticket.
Does all this sound ridiculous? GOOD! It’s supposed to sound that way! Banking on winning the lottery is about as ridiculous as it gets!
Think about this for a second. The less money you have, the more wisely you need to manage it because you don’t have as much room for error. When you make a budget and get out of debt, you have some breathing room. Your budget can get busted when an emergency comes up, but that’s why you save up an emergency fund. The ultimate is when you start investing the money you have. The reason for that is eventually your money will grow to enormous sums because of the power of compound interest.
Forget the lotto. Working hard and saving money is the only surefire way to make money. It works every time … unlike the lotto.
Lie of the Day 
jimwilbur said,
September 23, 2008 at 12:11 pm
or possibly to tax the mathematically challenged?
Scott said,
January 19, 2009 at 7:06 pm
The lottery is a reason for LAZY people to quit working. I work for a convient store and I sell at least $500 to $600 in lotto alone. People think they’re getting rich from it but what they don’t know is that most of it goes to the government, they’ll see at least $500 from that.
Peter said,
September 17, 2011 at 2:21 am
You sir as dumb as you can get… For LAZY people???? WTF do you think it’s normal for us to sell our lives out for minimum wage?? Of course everyone is hoping to win it nobody likes to work!! Or do you like working in your convient store?
Anonymous said,
May 13, 2012 at 11:13 am
You are so right lol
Sharon said,
November 29, 2012 at 2:25 am
Peter the lottery is a fool’s paradise. A lot of White retired folks win it but do you even hear that they are giving back to their community after winning their earnings? Nope. Because they don’t. A lot of lottery winners go on to live pathetically tragic lives. The lottery is the second biggest sham to bail outs!!!!!
jas said,
February 18, 2013 at 2:14 am
exactly, not working does not mean you are lazy! you are lazy when you don’t exercise, you are lazy when you drive your car to the corner store instead of WALKING. people work don’t work because they are active, they work because they need the money. if everybody have a lot of money working for them then nobody will work. the idea of “you are lazy if you don’t work” is invented by capitalist governments to push everyone to get a job so the government make money out of taxes.
stop being stupid ppl.
Anonymous said,
February 12, 2012 at 7:17 am
You sound really ill. “The lottery is a reason for LAZY people to quit working.”
izraul said,
May 24, 2016 at 11:23 pm
So… Wall Street gamblers, Bankers and Politicians aren’t all lazy pieces of shit? lol
I guess the Queen isn’t either..
Anonymous said,
March 30, 2012 at 2:17 pm
for Lazy People..? how much do you pay the people that work on your convient store????? do you have them on the minimum wage, making them do extra hours with no benefits..? well yeah for those “Lazy” people that are victimize by the system. I say.. let them win the LOTTO and stop working for the minimum wage with NO BENEFITS!!!!!
You are very rude.. how much you want to bet, YOU PLAYED THE LOTTO AS WELL
Anonymous said,
November 21, 2013 at 10:52 am
First off job (just over broke) is for lazy people. One half takes advantage of the ignorant and the other half wont educate themselves about how theyre getting scamed with jobs. Its funny I just saw a post on facebook about Walmart having toy drives and food drives for its employees. One of the richest conglomerate corps in the US. They teach about social responsibility in business classes, how does this occur? Lazy serfs and peasants who work hard for little pay. So your offensive redundant remarks are irrationally spoken.
Evil Government said,
August 13, 2009 at 9:24 am
Government run by gamlbers and booze hounds.
izraul said,
May 24, 2016 at 11:17 pm
Don’t forget drug dealers, gun runners and pedophiles..
Anonymous said,
February 9, 2010 at 3:36 am
the lotto draw should be done manually not by computer
Anonymous said,
February 12, 2012 at 7:15 am
Correct the odds would be a lot greater and more multiple winners. I just don’t understand how millions of people play and system do not have multiple winners. IT’S CONTROL and they select the least number played. That’s rigging the game. You and I do this it’s illegal to run a numbers game and to fix it as well.
radi said,
June 1, 2013 at 10:11 pm
yes you right as they know which numbers still there. so it a big trick
No No said,
April 13, 2010 at 9:40 pm
I have played lotto for a very long time and no luck yet, I really feel like it’s a big joke.
Notto Lotto said,
April 23, 2010 at 5:42 pm
the lottery is designed to take your money and leaving you hanging. just another government ponzi scheme
john said,
April 25, 2010 at 8:53 pm
It doesn’t fit the definition of a ponzi scheme genius. It’s designed to take money or raise revenue or something called a tax ever hear of it? Except in the case it’s completely voluntary with a potential benefit. Constantly buying lottery ticket is most likely a poor decision but it’s fun every now and then to buy one.
Anonymous said,
February 17, 2012 at 6:43 pm
haha you work for them don’t you? the government gets paid every time someone plays… they give you your tax check then they get it right back because not only is it available for voluntary use but it is marketed toward the working class
izraul said,
February 29, 2012 at 5:25 am
LOL I love it…
“It’s designed to take money or raise revenue or something called a tax ever hear of it?”
Like the IRS “TAX”?
“Except in the case it’s completely voluntary with a potential benefit.”
Like the IRS “TAX”?
“It doesn’t fit the definition of a ponzi scheme genius.”
Like the IRS “TAX”?
IRS = Individually Raped & Sodomized
Sandpaper Condoms Anyone??
The White House spent $3 billion to make used cars more expensive. « Motivated Jogger said,
August 26, 2010 at 12:08 am
[…] off to buy a lottery ticket. Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)The US Fixes The Car Industry And Plans To Break […]
Happy Gary said,
October 20, 2010 at 1:39 am
Um, it’s a form of stealth tax
Ani Langston said,
January 6, 2011 at 11:22 am
The lotto is nothing but a scam. Create your own lotto by going into a well-paying field of employment, creating more than one means of bringing in income, managing your money wisely and paying yourself first by putting money away in your savings, money market and investment accounts, etc. every time your paycheck comes in. It’s not glamorous but is way more satisfying and rewarding, especially in the long run. You’ll have a better chance of becoming a millionaire this way than in playing the lotto. Trust me on that.
Anonymous said,
November 21, 2013 at 10:54 am
Where are these jobs
Daniel Guzman said,
December 25, 2013 at 2:47 pm
They are everywhere. Yes, they maybe be hard to get but it’s all about survival of the fittest.
mis muzk said,
January 12, 2011 at 9:54 pm
So I did a little investigation from morning to noon to evening you would not believe how controlled this lotto thing is people!!! I see a pattern with the numbers it’s no joke and I think when the clock turns to the very last second it calculates what numbers have been played through out the day I could swear it!!! why do you think NO ONE WINS!!! THEY decided when they want to let go of the money not the computer…..hello its takes a HUMAN to create the program and to assemble the computer system think about it??? It can’t assemble itself!!!
Puzz fuzz said,
February 9, 2011 at 8:47 pm
I totally agree with u. Itust b a computer that calculates it at the last second the lottery should b done manually on live tv
Sean said,
July 18, 2011 at 10:58 am
The fact of the matter is people do win the lottery all the time. People need to take it for what it is. It’s just a gamble. We are gambling every day in our lives in some form or other. Sometimes we got lucky and sometimes we don’t. The odds of winning the lottery are obviously stacked against you and that is why you need to play responsibly. Anyone who doesn’t understand that shouldn’t play the lottery. However, if you don’t play, you have absolutely no odds of winning.
Herbert said,
August 2, 2011 at 8:48 am
Lotto is a scam. Over twenty year’s I’ve played the same numbers twice a week and never won the jackpot only to hit 3 to 4 numbers winning $3.50 for three numbers and $78.00 for four numbers. After I stopped playing lotto for about two years now,how about one day I see all six of my numbers come out. Lotto is BS don’t play it save your money this is a government thing to fatten there pockets and break yours.
hector said,
October 4, 2011 at 2:52 am
there is something that needs to be said here. now,i do believe that people win all the time. however,the vast majority of people who do win,i assure you are far from “poverty-stricken”. you see,if you watch the news regarding the winners,it never fails that it’s some retired old fart with nothing but free time on his/her hands. it’s depressing really,but completely understandable. they literally spend “thousands” of dollars every year on tickets(some playing the very same numbers they had been playing since 19-dickity 2),and low and behold,with this methodology-they increase their odds of winning. so it comes as no surprise when these people do win. they spend all their saved up money on the lotto.Why? because ,even if they have kids,those kids are all grown up,possibly with fabulous paying jobs,and no need to play the lotto. but the old farts have nothing better to do with their time.also,it doesn’t hurt to be a cold,heartless,penny-pinching,shark when you win. yes,you read right…telling people you won,or allowing yourself to accept your winnings publicly is a stupid move! be secretive about it,if you intend to keep your winnings.did you ever watch lord of the rings:fellowship of the ring’ movie? remember when gandalf told frodo,to “keep it secret….keep it safe!..”? well,this is precisely what i’d do in the event that i ever won.unfortunately however,i’m not a cruel,ruthless shark,who has no sympathy for others.this would be my achilles’ tendon. but i would help those who need it,but only 1 time.after which time,i’d “disappear”..to an undisclosed location.
CWH said,
October 30, 2011 at 8:49 am
Anyone wonder why a lot of the lottery winners are from some no-where city in a state. The odds that a lotto winner would come from a city with only 20,000 residents versus a city with 1,000,000 residents is more than suspicious. Especially since it occurs ALL the time.
kiit said,
December 1, 2011 at 10:04 pm
sounds like a lotto scam 1million people play and 1 person wins the game! hmm! I wonder how much they pocket the rest themselves, i agree on the fact that no one wants to slave for a company that pays $ 10.00 an hr. and bosses talking crap, besides with all these things going on around the world today how much longer does it seem like money is going to last, EZEKIEL 7:19 AND ZEPHANIAH 1:18 SAYS that soon silver and gold will be worthless, money is not the answer to your salvation your faith is. also read PROVERBS 6:6-12 hopefully this answers all your lottery wishes.
kiit said,
December 1, 2011 at 10:16 pm
also i disagree with the comment on top of this page where it says without lies humanity would perish of despair and boredom, lies is the reason humanity is in the mess we’re all in read GENESIS 3:3,4 see where this first lie came from? and if you continue reading on you’ll see that adam and eve was punished for listening to that lie, a lesson for all mankind to take note of, learn from it.
izraul said,
December 25, 2011 at 4:54 pm
The Lottery IS most likely a SCAM!
The fact any computer can be manipulated (programmed) makes anything possible. The fact large amounts of money are involved greatly increase those possibilities. The fact corruption and fraud have become ordinary business practice makes it definite.
Every ticket purchased automatically stores the chosen numbers in a database. With knowledge of all the numbers chosen (picked) before the drawing, a computer now knows the numbers to avoid (not pick).
Once in awhile (eventually) the numbers picked will be unavoidable, thus, your occasional winner.
I’ll bet I have a better chance winning a million dollar bet that I am right.
kikinoir said,
December 26, 2011 at 2:30 pm
I do personally know of two people that actually hit the lottery..one with 5 numbers for 10,000,00 and the other 6 numbers for 11,000,000.00 they both reside in NYC.(the latter moved immediately and quietly to Florida)
izraul said,
January 11, 2012 at 2:08 am
As I stated above. Once in awhile it is unavoidable, thus, the occasional winner.
izraul said,
February 29, 2012 at 5:31 am
Ever notice how all the real fun profitable crimes are only reserved for gov. and bankers?
Guess they despise competition!!
izraul said,
February 29, 2012 at 6:31 am
Then again. we are the country co – founded by tax protesting slave owners who just wanted freedom..
The irony! lol “patriot” then = “criminal” now
then, taxes were for corporations right to commerce, and not the citizen. now they make billions in america, off americans, tax free.
and its manditory the citizen pay his voluntary taxes for everything and everyone… for our right to make them rich.
kinda like child support , just to gov./ corp.
everything america was and for .. only backwards!
will3032840 said,
March 8, 2012 at 4:21 pm
izraul said,
February 29, 2012 at 6:31 am
Then again. we are the country co – founded by tax protesting slave owners who just wanted freedom..
The irony! lol “patriot” then = “criminal” now
then, taxes were for corporations right to commerce, and not the citizen. now they make billions in america, off americans, tax free.
and its manditory the citizen pay his voluntary taxes for everything and everyone… for our right to make them rich.
kinda like child support , just to gov./ corp.
everything america was and for .. only backwards!
aciremA is America spelled backwards. YW!
will3032840 said,
March 8, 2012 at 4:22 pm
Whoops. I take back the above comment.
Malicious (@Malice757) said,
March 30, 2012 at 3:29 pm
im bout 2 buy sum tickets
Chillen said,
July 16, 2015 at 5:09 pm
Thats what I like to hear! The lottery is extremely legit compared to other scams like WALL STREET!!!!! In Virginia they return 60% of revenue to the players as prizes. Vegas has better odds but its still fun every now and then if you aren’t in Vegas. Start trading weekly stock options and you will see a scam 100x as big as the lottery.
Anonymous said,
March 30, 2012 at 7:14 pm
If everyone would get together on Facebook and post each “Quick pick” numbers and lets see how many times the computer selects the same numbers, they will determine if the system is set to pick same numbers thru out the country.
yardy tttt said,
April 10, 2012 at 8:36 am
The Lottery is indeed a clever scheme by the government to get extra “taxes” from selling worthless tickets. And because we know poor people are more likely to buy most of them, it translates to say that the poor are being taxed more than the rich (like always) and are basically being robbed. Take 100 million dollars from a bunch of poor people. Let ONE person win 50 million. You basically gave one person money that didn’t belong to you and kept half of it. That’s the kind of ethics we allow the government to have. They only have power because our LAZY asses allow it. That’s the truth.
piglet said,
May 5, 2012 at 5:32 am
The lottery may be rigged. Several years ago my family spent $20 on a raffle type lottery ticket. They were selling a specific number of tickets and then stopping. When we looked at which ones one, they were 3 winners, very close in number to each other, meaning possibly that the program written to pick the winning numbers was either very poorely written, or was purposely rigged.
sultana said,
May 24, 2012 at 6:16 pm
Everything is a scam now days. Save your dollars every time lotto comes into your mind. That is how you win the lotto.
Keep your money for a rainy day. You loose more than winning, and always live in distress.
OHGOOOE Marc Gregory Pierre-Louis said,
June 6, 2012 at 8:52 pm
This is a conspiracy theory, but there is a possibility that the lottery is won mostly by secret society people and the the lotto balls are controlled by technological or spiritual technology and ability. The secret society get as much people as possible to play the lottery then when they feel that they have made enough money they allow a member of the secret society to win the jackpot, by operating the lottery balls to come up with their technological or spiritual abilities. They also have a super computer that tells them exactly what number was played by everyone who played the lottery then their computer system make sure that no ones number comes up until they feel like it, then when they feel that they have collected enough money from players they allow a member of the secret society to win the lottery. That would make the lottery one of the biggest fraud in the world.
From: OHGOOOE Marc Gregory Pierre-Louis
Julian S Herrera said,
July 26, 2012 at 7:33 am
There are different theories to that. You could try and play at a convenient store that is located in a beach front neighborhood or in the Suburbs and your chances go up.
Michael Dakota Everhart said,
January 18, 2013 at 6:47 pm
The lottery is great when you keep your prospective…… Without investing a dollar or two every other week or so, you can’t dream about being rich and what you’d do…. it’s a great escape during that 30 minute commute to work. It’s when it becomes your retirement plan that you run into trouble. I work p/t on the weekends at a store in the ghetto (office Monday through Friday….. Yeah, 7 a week for 5 years now!) I make about $52,000.00 a year and I’ll buy a ticket every now and then, just to have a dream, but the people I wait on at the store spend 30 bucks on the lottery, buy cigs, blunt, beer and $4 on gas for their car…. WTF? Having worked at the store, I think poor people require a lot of vice…… a lot of small comforts they can buy alil at the time to make them selves feel good, maybe because the big things in life is going to pass them by. That’s the generous part of me…. The other part just thinks they are stupid losers! Dumgazzes!
winner never been said,
February 21, 2013 at 12:47 pm
stop playing with your money .the lottery is rigged, it’s the biggest fraud and it’s legal.
winner never been said,
February 27, 2013 at 6:17 pm
When i donot play the lottery people will lose and when i play i lose and the lottery people win.it’s unfortunatly true.
alan said,
March 2, 2013 at 9:44 am
i do the lottery but i only want enough to buy a cheap car so i can go and get a job and get off benefits–i,m not lazy and i,m not stupid enough to think i will ever win millions–i wont–now give me a few hundred to buy the car then they can shove the lottery up their assholes—-SHEDMAN
stewart said,
May 19, 2013 at 10:49 am
The lottery is taking from the poor, it’s gambeling and legalized theft of the poor. You will never see Well Smith buying lottery tickets or Jay Z, buying lottery tickets, becuase they are not poor or the working poor. The working poor by todays standards is anyone making less then 50k and for a family of 4 or 5… if the total house encome is less than 80k your considered the working poor. And as long as the most dangerous man alive continues to tell the federal reserve to keep printing money, what little money we do have will be worthless. At the end of the day when the bubble pops on wall street not even winning the lottery is going to make a difference because America’s currencey will be so worthless that we will need a new one.
jojoba benefits said,
June 1, 2013 at 6:40 am
When further processed, it can also be used to produce petroleum lubricants.
For something so incredibly ugly, it sure works well.
Let’s just say there’s a lot of tears being shed,
and I kind of expect it to go on for a few more weeks,
at least – healing process, you know.
Anonymous said,
September 27, 2013 at 2:38 pm
jim wilbur you sir need to crawl in a hole a die
izraul said,
May 24, 2016 at 11:02 pm
Here’s the thing most people don’t even think about, which directly relates to the actual question “Is the Lotto A Scam?”
When people go and get their numbers, self picked or quick pick, it doesn’t matter, those numbers are entered into that special lotto computer at the store, which are all networked into a giant data base.
This means they now have foreknowledge or in simpler terms, they now know exactly what numbers have been picked and are out there before hand. Knowing that information is key, and is especially convenient when computers are doing all the numbers work. Based on that information, the lotto’s data base now knows what numbers it needs to avoid.
Of course every once in awhile there will be sets or patterns of numbers that make it difficult to avoid a certain set, hence your every now and then winner.
It’s kind of like counting cards when playing Black Jack, which casino’s frown upon for good reason. They find that you keeping track of the sets of numbers which have already been outed, an unfair advantage over the house. In actuality, they consider that tactic a form of cheating, and therefor so should you. Why,.. because frankly it is.
So, Is The Lotto A Scam? You can bet your ass it is.
If there’s anyway they can possibly cheat, you should know by now, they always will.
izraul said,
May 24, 2016 at 11:15 pm
So what are some of the things that can be done?
Demand changes that take away unfair advantages. Demand more access to important information, such as how many tickets are sold a day. They most certainly would not like that because the math won’t add up thus exposing how much money is actuality being generated, and where it’s going to.
Think about the number of stores selling tickets everyday. Even if all the people just bought 1 ticket at $1.00, that would amount to an absurd amount at the end of the day across the whole country.
Another option is to start a web site where everyone can enter their number, win or lose, just to compare what numbers are being given the most compared to the winning numbers, thus proving the avoidance of certain numbers, i.e. the winning numbers. That’s the best way if they refuse to disclose the other information needed to ascertain what is really taking place.