Thursday 24 December 2009

A business based on unhappiness

Why do people play the lottery? Mathematically it is not the thing to do to win money but you can certainly gain a thrill at the prospect of winning a lot so there is one reason to play. However the main reason is because we are dreamers. We want to change our lives. Maybe we want to stop working. It might be that dream holiday is out of our reach. The dreamers who play the lottery are saying that fundamentally they are unhappy with their lives. I don't think you need to think too deeply to realise this.

The argument for the lottery is that someone has to win. However unlikely it is you will hear about them and lives will change. That leads me on to my second point. If you are so lucky that you do win then you will make enemies. It may be that you are a philanthrope and you have great ways of spending your money to help people and save the earth. You may just want to share out all the money with your family and friends and you may know a lot of people however I guarantee that you will find that there are many more people who know you.

There are charities that gain from the proceeds of the lottery business, but how have we really developed into a society that recognises unhappiness and creates more unhappiness by winning or losing? Wouldn't it be nice to follow James Stewart's example in It's a Wonderful Life? Well it is Christmas.

Change the world

1 comment:

  1. Money can change everything even a good heart. And what is more alarming is that if you had the money in an instant, it will most likely to be gone in an instant, too.

    ReplyDelete