Skool is cool

I was reading my gmail and the blurb at the top was about a man winning a big bet on a horse race and becoming a millionaire. It reminded me of a story I saw a day or two about a guy in Georgia who won the lottery by playing his grandchildren's birth dates. I just started wondering, why does the media drum these rags to riches stories into our heads? The people who win the lottery are of course expecting their 15 minutes of fame. How else would all their long-lost relatives find out they won money and try to cash in? These stories just make us greedy for money we haven't earned.

The lottery itself seems like such an American concept that I was surprised when I read that it hadn't actually started here. Many European/Asian/South American countries have lotteries also. The lottery theory, in my own words, is, "I'm going to throw my small money away on a regular basis for the one in 14 million chance of winning big money, in the meantime, I'm not going to go to school, look for a good job, or save for retirement, because eventually, I will win". I think this is the mindset of most lottery players, the others are just playing because it's a work social activity, or they are on vacation in Vegas. So I think it's an inherently American past-time. Not working, being lazy, and relying on magic/God to save them from their inevitable demise.

I blame the lottery (and professional sports) for people thinking they are entitled to something for nothing. If you want to be rich some day, or at least well off, you have to work hard. You either have to go to school and learn a valuable trade, or do something entrepreneurial, like opening your own business and busting your ass at it. Yes, there are people who win the lottery. Yes, there are poor kids who are awesome at basketball who now live in billion dollar houses. What are the chances that you fall into one of those groups? Slim to fucking none, so stay in school, cunt.