Lottery ticket buyers by hope. They feel, perhaps rightly so, that their lives will never substantially improve. The US has a very ruthless system, where you ca

Lottery ticket buyers by hope. They feel, perhaps rightly so, that their lives will never substantially improve. The US has a very ruthless system, where you can't get a better job without a degree, can't afford to go to school because high rents, etc. Lots of people feel like they're stuck at a dead end, and winning the lottery is the only reasonable way out.