[jsjsbdkj]

This is extremely condescending. For someone with assets (retirement savings, a house, etc.) playing the lottery doesn't make sense - you could save that money and have a marginally better life just by investing it. For people on the other side of the financial divide, life is basically framed in terms of debt. They will never get on top of the student loans, medical debt, credit card debt, car payments, payday loans, etc. that are constantly draining any excess cash they have.

The lottery is one of the few ways they could escape this debt spiral - if they could get a positive bank balance, they could begin to accumulate assets. That's not to say most people are able to do it, because suddenly having a lot of cash without financial literacy is dangerous. There's also a strong impulse to help out the people around you, which is tough because if the money is spread too thin none of the beneficiaries escape the debt cycle, they just reduce their balances slightly and then continue sliding downwards.

All that to say, playing the lottery is not stupid, it's a rational response to a society that's designed to drain the wallets of the most vulnerable for the benefit of the wealthy.

[BurningFrog]

You seem to claim that people unable to earn a living and/or manage their finances are just as smart and capable as the general population.

That is wildly counter intuitive. Is there any data to support it?

[jsjsbdkj]

1 in 10 americans lives in poverty, which is 25k/year or less for a family of four. Your position is that those are just the stupidest, least capable 10% of people and they deserve to be impoverished? If you work full time and you don't make a liveable income, how are you supposed to "manage your finances" better? If you have a disability and you can't work full time, does that make you stupid for not being able to "earn a living"?

[BurningFrog]

The "So are you saying <absurd vilifying caricature of statement>" pattern is a sure sign of someone not worth the time to engage.