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>>Yeah, and in ten years they might get $14, which will just give some extra profit to their creditors when they file for bankruptcy for unpaid medical bills, o

>>Yeah, and in ten years they might get $14, which will just give some extra profit to their creditors when they file for bankruptcy for unpaid medical bills, or be captured in a civil forfeiture. And if somehow they managed to keep it and actually save a couple grand, that just means they'll become ineligible for SNAP and lose much more in benefits. How is that any different than matching two numbers on a lotto ticket and winning $10, or $1000? With real-world investing, especially in micro-caps, they have a chance to hit it big as well, and make millions. So it has the same dream escapist aspect. And it provides a much more solid grounding for the future than throwing money in a game that you are mathematically guaranteed to lose if you play long enough. Investing is not a game of pure chance, and it is not zero sum. With enough skill, you can actually make money, and your skill can improve over time, and doing so actually improves how the economy as a whole allocates capital.

icebraining 7y ago
> How is that any different than matching two numbers on a lotto ticket and winning $10, or $1000? That's immediately spendable; it doesn't sit somewhere where it can be taken (by illegal or legal means). That's also one of the reasons why people join susus instead of just saving, for example. > With real-world investing, especially in micro-caps, they have a chance to hit it big as well, and make millions. There's no change of making millions in a day, or week. The few "rags-to-riches" trading millionaires progressively amassed their money over at least a few years. But that means losing benefits, which people can't afford to risk. Like I said, the system is designed to keep them there, and they know it.
- CryptoPunk 7y ago
  Yea scratch cards can be immediately spendable, but weekly lottos aren't. People wait, just as they wait for a volatile penny stock to spike in price. I really don't see enough of a difference between the profit potential of penny stocks, and that of lotto tickets, to assume they would be treated any differently by retail consumers, except for the long-term differences, that would make the former more beneficial to the consumer. >>There's no change of making millions in a day, or week. The few "rags-to-riches" trading millionaires progressively amassed their money over at least a few years. Crypto-assets have seen many thousands of percent gains in a matter of days. I don't know if you could turn $2 into a million in one week the way you can with a lotto, but the gains I think are substantial enough to compete for lotto spending, especially considering that odds of gains can be improved by the buyer through research and analysis.

icebraining 7y ago

> How is that any different than matching two numbers on a lotto ticket and winning $10, or $1000? That's immediately spendable; it doesn't sit somewhere where it can be taken (by illegal or legal means). That's also one of the reasons why people join susus instead of just saving, for example. > With real-world investing, especially in micro-caps, they have a chance to hit it big as well, and make millions. There's no change of making millions in a day, or week. The few "rags-to-riches" trading millionaires progressively amassed their money over at least a few years. But that means losing benefits, which people can't afford to risk. Like I said, the system is designed to keep them there, and they know it.

CryptoPunk 7y ago
Yea scratch cards can be immediately spendable, but weekly lottos aren't. People wait, just as they wait for a volatile penny stock to spike in price. I really don't see enough of a difference between the profit potential of penny stocks, and that of lotto tickets, to assume they would be treated any differently by retail consumers, except for the long-term differences, that would make the former more beneficial to the consumer. >>There's no change of making millions in a day, or week. The few "rags-to-riches" trading millionaires progressively amassed their money over at least a few years. Crypto-assets have seen many thousands of percent gains in a matter of days. I don't know if you could turn $2 into a million in one week the way you can with a lotto, but the gains I think are substantial enough to compete for lotto spending, especially considering that odds of gains can be improved by the buyer through research and analysis.