So why did prizes skyrocket? Progressive jackpot games and multi-state lotteries such as Mega Millions have their roots in the particular economic and cultural circumstances of the 1980s. As rising inequality fueled a spike in luxurious lifestyles amid an economic downturn, hopeful gamblers, eager to enter the exclusive world of the wealthy, turned to the unprecedented prizes offered by rollover jackpot games. Over time, state lottery commissions have catered to gamblers’ appetite for rising jackpots, offering ever-increasing prizes that promise...

The average American spends $207 annually on tickets. The only trouble with investing that kind of dough in lottery tickets is that the odds are definitely not in your favor. Indeed, you’re 300 times more likely to get struck by lightning in any given year than win a multimillion-dollar jackpot in the Mega Millions or Power Ball contest — no matter how frequently you play.https://www.cbsnews.com/news/buying-lottery-tickets-will-never-make-you-rich/

Americans are on a collision course to lose more than $1 trillion to govt-sanctioned gambling over the next 8 years.” Meanwhile, 20% of Americans have zero or negative net wealth: https://www.marketwatch.com/story/one-in-five-american-households-have-zero-or-negative-wealth-2017-11-11?fbclid=IwAR3qRu6e9n3IKKtGXjgKDC65t7sZ0dwcBd41p2ekDgXinwvg26B4OejZ9z8