[ExI] What would you do if you won the billion dollar plus MegaMillions Lottery, and are lotteries a bad thing?

[William Flynn Wallace]

Lotteries are a way for legislators to avoid raising taxes, and it mostly
impacts the poor - just the reverse of progressive taxation that I prefer.

I don't know how I would spend even one million dollars.  Two  people in a
giant mansion with servants everywhere?  Limousines?  Nah.  So I would hire
people to investigate charities and give most of it away.

In Mississippi we have a new lottery.  The money goes to roads and bridges,
which the legislators have allowed to fall into severe disrepair.  Better
than nothing, I reckon.

bill w

On Mon, Oct 22, 2018 at 9:38 PM Adrian Tymes <atymes at gmail.com> wrote:

> So what I want to know is, how hackproof are these lotteries?  If you
> could rig the win and no one picks up that it's rigged, you've got the
> pot, free and clear.  These really big pots seem like they'd be worth
> some criminal mastermind's time to rig - just once, so they don't get
> caught from repetition (a gamble in itself).
>
> I am well aware that such a "hack" would involve physical interface to
> the machines, making it more like a heist.  But for tens or hundreds
> of millions of dollars per participant, one could get some pretty
> skilled talent.  Why hasn't any such group cashed in before the pot
> got this large?
> On Mon, Oct 22, 2018 at 5:45 PM John Grigg <possiblepaths2050 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> >
> > The three big discussion points for lotteries seem to be, what would you
> do with the money if you won, what are the odds of winning, and are
> lotteries a bad thing?
> >
> > Personally, I would like to think that I could enjoy life more than I do
> now, if I won the l.6 plus billion lottery.  I have two huge zeppelins
> built!  And with one, I would take it from city to city, where science
> fiction and fantasy conventions would be held on board my aircraft!  The
> second zeppelin would be loaned to the Doctors without Borders nonprofit
> organization, to aid them in their work with the poor and sick.
> >
> >
> https://www.thebalanceeveryday.com/lottery-tips-from-powerball-winners-4129586
> >
> > I realize many people have allowed lotto wins to ruin them, and there
> are countless stories about this phenomena.
> >
> >
> https://abcnews.go.com/US/lottery-jackpot-winners-lost-big/story?id=36313525
> >
> > I have a friend who likes to say, regarding the odds of winning, "I am
> just giving the universe a chance to be extremely nice to me, if it so
> chooses!"  Lol
> >
> >
> https://www.bankrate.com/personal-finance/why-you-shouldnt-buy-lottery-tickets/
> >
> > The funds for lotteries seem to go towards worthy beneficiaries, like
> the arts.  But certainly, gambling addiction can be a problem for some.
> >
> > Anyway, let me know what you think...  :  )
> >
> > "In the middle of the 20th century, when lotteries first started in the
> U.S., they were sold to states as a way to benefit the American public.
> That suggests that bigger and bigger jackpots should mean more tax dollars
> to spend on public services like education. But that isn’t happening. So
> what’s really going on?
> >
> > First, let’s look at how lottery jackpots got so big. This particular
> jackpot started at $40 million in July, and week after week, no one drew
> the winning numbers, but the tickets keep getting bought.
> >
> > You too have the chance to win the biggest Mega Millions jackpot ever
> with the simple purchase of a $2 ticket. However, your chances are pretty
> slim. With a 1 in 300 million chance of picking the matching numbers, you
> are three times more likely to be killed by a vending machine. An easier
> way to really wrap your head around your chances: It’s like flipping a coin
> and getting heads 30 times in a row."
> >
> >
> >
> https://theconversation.com/the-mega-millions-jackpot-is-now-more-than-1-billion-where-does-all-that-lottery-profit-really-go-105279
> > _______________________________________________
> > extropy-chat mailing list
> > extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
> > http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat
>
> _______________________________________________
> extropy-chat mailing list
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/attachments/20181023/4a3545c0/attachment.html>