Preying on the desperation of others

I'm not a fan of lotteries.

I understand how many people get very excited about the idea of winning the lottery. I also know that clearly some people have benefited from playing the lottery by winning big.

I don't know what it is specifically. I guess it's partially the idea that for some people the lottery is their one big hope to escape from the drudgery of their life situation. Clearly this would be true if they had a realistic chance of winning the lottery. But therein lies the first problem. The chances are well and truly stacked against you.

I saw a lady in a shop recently buying a whole load of lottery scratch cards, at least 20 of the things. She paid and didn't even leave the counter in the shop. Out came the coin and she was scratching furiously there and then.

That's mad in my view. It shifts the balance of power and influence from the person to luck. You know, the sense that by my own actions my future is doomed to end pitifully however if only I could win the lottery then everything will change.

That's the second problem. Even if you were lucky enough to defy the millions to one odds against you and win the thing, would it change everything? and would you want that?

What do people do with their winnings? Clearly some take good advice and put it somewhere safe and take time to think about it. Others don't. Some blow it all on some foolish endeavour, a street party, a fleet of cars, a helicopter. How quickly people forget why they dreamed of winning the lottery. Nobody ever bought a lottery ticket with the express view of throwing a street party. But it happens.

Winning the lottery does change everything. Above all it changes the relationships between people. The parity between friends and relatives is shattered as the lottery win changes the balance of power and wealth. Despite the best efforts of people to keep doing their day job and depite utterances that "the money won't change me" the sad fact is that it does.

There is a third issue. It's to do with the messages of those operating the lotteries. But it's not just lotteries. Those sending out the messages that everyones' lives will be improved have an obligation and a duty not to raise the hopes of ordinary people only to cruelly dash them later. I guess lottery players know through bitter experience that losing is part of playing the game.

But what about if you were suffering from HIV? What would you think if someone offered you a hope, the news that a cure had been found and that your HIV would be cured? Wouldn't that be like winning the lottery?

Imagine if that had happened.

Well it has, in Gambia, and it's a really curious and sad story. I'd love to believe that it's true but call me cynical, I just can't believe it. I think it's shocking that the hopes of millions of ordinary people have been raised by what is surely a bogus claim.

Or what about the guy in China who operated a scheme that sucked in 3 billion Yuan convincing ordinary people to "invest" in a giant ant breeding project. There is no project. The person at the top of the scheme was sentenced to death recently.

The desperate continue to be the fodder for the schemes and prognostications of those with power and influence. It's sad that the shrinking world just seems to make this easier and more lucrative.