Lottery is a name given to games where numbers or symbols are drawn and winners win prizes, often money. Although the casting of lots for decisions and fates has a long history, the modern lottery is of relatively recent origin. Lotteries first became popular in the European world during the fourteen-hundreds, and by the fifteenth century they were widespread. The word “lottery” is believed to be a calque on Middle Dutch loterie, meaning “action of drawing lots.”
In the early American colonies, public lotteries played a vital role in funding both private and public ventures. Many colleges were founded through the use of lotteries, and a significant number of roads, canals, bridges, and churches were built with proceeds from the game. During the French and Indian War, lotteries helped to finance fortifications and local militias. And in the 1740s, lotteries were used to help fund the colony’s military expedition against Canada.
When a lottery was introduced in the United States, it was generally marketed as a source of “painless” revenue—an alternate form of taxation that would enable state governments to expand their services without increasing the burden on the working class and the middle classes. It was a time when America’s long-standing promise that hard work and education would guarantee people that their children would be better off than their parents had been was rapidly coming apart.
The problem is that, as Cohen writes, the promise of winning the lottery —which has no bearing on your actual odds of getting rich—has come to replace that lost promise. In the nineteen-seventies and eighties, as income inequality widened, social-security payments eroded, health-care costs skyrocketed, unemployment rose, and wages stagnated, the idea that lottery winnings could be the ticket to a decent life began to lose its appeal.
Moreover, once the initial wave of excitement from a lottery’s introduction has waned, it becomes necessary to introduce new games in order to maintain and increase revenues. This constant pressure to generate profits is the primary driver of the evolution of lotteries, and it is one of the reasons why so many states today offer multiple types of games.
As this trend continues, critics have begun to shift their focus away from the desirability of a lottery to its specific operations and the effects on various groups of society. They point to the problem of compulsive gamblers and its regressive impact on lower-income communities, among other issues.
But perhaps the most disturbing effect of a lottery’s expansion is what it has done to the notion that we can trust in the fairness and meritocracy of the free market. As we enter a post-truth era, when voters no longer believe that they’re going to be better off than their parents were, it’s worth thinking about how we can regain faith in the value of hard work and education. Maybe the answer is to go back to the old ways. Maybe we need to start playing the lottery again.
