The Lottery Mentality in America

As the American middle class shrinks in size, and the gap widens between the growing class of working poor and the small class of ultra-rich, a new term has entered the American lexicon, the lottery mentality. As real opportunities to enjoy a prosperous, financially-secure middle-class life shrink, more and more Americans are coming to believe that if they can just hit it big in a lottery, or make it big through one scheme or another, they can turn their lives around.

Most Americans are engaged in lottery mentality thinking to some degree. We fantasize that we are going to hit it big by actually winning the lottery, or we think that our new idea for a little retail business franchise (e.g: auto quick lube or drive-up coffee shop) is going to guarantee our financial independence.

To a large extent, the 2003-2007 real estate bubble was driven by people with a lottery mentality, people who saw real estate speculation as a path to quick profits with little risk. They bought a house, watched it rise in value, extracted the equity with a home equity line of credit (HELOC), used that money to buy another house or two, and repeated the process. They relied on continually increasing housing prices, inflated appraisals, easy credit and low-interest-rate adjustable rate mortgages to leverage their own small investment. In the end, as the economy slowed and subprime borrowers defaulted on their mortgages, it became clear that the whole financial structure was simply a house of cards that would eventually collapse. But while it existed, it was a perfect example of the lottery mentality.

Multi-level marketing businesses (Amway, Shaklee, Discovery Toys, Pampered Chef) are typically marketed to appeal to the lottery mentality. They are not presented as product sales and distribution businesses to be built over time, but rather as get-rich-quick opportunities by recruiting distributors to work for you (known as building your own downline), thus multiplying yourself. Your distributors do the work while you reap almost unlimited profits.

The tragic part is that most of us never bother to investigate the actual statistics, and so we never realize that the odds are really stacked against us. Lottery winners and Amway super salesmen are promoted in the media, and the stigmatized word gambling has been replaced with the word gaming, which sounds so much more wholesome, innocent and fun.

Reflecting the way the lottery mentality has taken over our culture is our growing thirst for TV competition, game and reality programs that promise big rewards. The following is just a partial list of popular competition/game/reality shows that vie for our attention. It includes three shows (American Idol, The Bachelor, Dancing with the Stars) that are among the top five American TV shows (along with NCIS and Glee):








The Amazing Race (2001-present) (win $1 Million)
American Idol: The Search for a Superstar (2002-present)
America's Best Dance Crew (2008–present)
America's Got Talent (2006–present)
America's Next Great Restaurant (2011)
America's Next Top Model (2003-present)
The Apprentice (2004-present) (win the chance to be Donald Trump's apprentice)
The Bachelor (2002-present
The Bachelorette (2003-present)
Bachelor Pad (2010-present) (win $250,000)
Big Brother (2000-present) (with $500,000)
The Biggest Loser (2004-present)
Cash Cab (2005-present)
Dancing with the Stars (2005-present)
Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (2003-present)
Family Feud (1988-present)
FETCH! with Ruff Ruffman (2006–present), children's game show
Flip This House (2006-present)
Jeopardy! (1964-present)
Let's Make a Deal (2009–present)
Millionaire Matchmaker (2008-present)
The Price Is Right (1972–present)
Project Runway (2006-present)
So You Think You Can Dance (2005-present) (win $100,000 or more)
Survivor (2000-present) (win $1 Million)
The Voice (2011) reality/talent competition
Wheel of Fortune (1975-present) (win up to $1 Million)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (1999-present)











While competition/game/reality shows may seem harmless enough, they indicate the degree to which the lottery mentality has permeated our society, and should cause us great concern.

One of the darker aspects of the lottery mentality is the way it has impacted the legal profession. Litigation in general, and personal injury lawsuits in particular, are on the rise, simply because they provide yet another way for us to win a lottery, in this case, the litigation lottery. For example, here is a blog post discussing how legal firms market themselves to appeal to the lottery mentality: Law Firm Marketing and the Lottery Mentality

As our society continues to change, we will come to resemble the Roman Empire in its decline, when it was characterized by two things: bread and circuses. The citizens of Rome were entitled to a daily ration of bread, and they were kept mindlessly entertained and pacified by a variety of circuses. The obvious parallel to the Roman bread is our social safety net, including food stamps, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, etc. And for our circuses, we need look no further than the small glowing screen in our living room, family room or bedroom, and the wealth of mostly mindless entertainment it provides, particularly in the popular competition, game and reality programming. While we may convince ourselves that our lives are being enriched by watching these programs, the fact that corporations pay hundreds of millions of dollars to advertise on programs like American Idol, The Bachelor, and Dancing with the Stars, should give us a clue as to the real value of these programs. They exist simply to sell us products and services, most of which we do not need, and cannot really afford. Think about it, please.