Not to disagree with anything else you've said, but regarding: > It's a tragedy that the public school system teaches nothing about accounting, budgeting, how

Not to disagree with anything else you've said, but regarding: > It's a tragedy that the public school system teaches nothing about accounting, budgeting, how to run a simple business, etc. At least some do. The curriculum at my public high school included an economics course which covered (personal) accounting and budgeting in some detail—both theory and practice. IIRC we also did some simulated investing and spent some time on the basics of running a business. The lottery is indeed pretty terrible as an investment, but I expect most people who participate see it more as a form of entertainment. It's not my thing, but a certain amount of money budgeted for entertainment and/or hobbies is perfectly reasonable and I'm not going to criticize how that money is spent so long as it makes the spender happy and all the critical expenses are paid.