General Discussion

ellisonz

(27,776 posts)

24. Well you know...

Fri Mar 30, 2012, 03:00 PM

Mar 2012

Poor people are poor only because of their bad choices! If only they would embrace the Protestant work ethic more and stop being so shiftless they would be rich like Johnny Rico here who is obviously a very industrious sort.

Also, I can't access the study to see their data and you're right, the math is off.

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Poor people spend 9% of income on lottery tickets; here's why [View all] Johnny Rico Mar 2012 OP

I've bought one Aerows Mar 2012 #1

They use another standard of probability/statistics. no_hypocrisy Mar 2012 #2

They're desperate and who could blame them? cynatnite Mar 2012 #3

Here's how I do the math: Duer 157099 Mar 2012 #4

That's exactly what I told my SO ecstatic Mar 2012 #6

And if you do play (buying 1 ticket), theres a 99.9999995% chance you won't win. Johnny Rico Mar 2012 #11

That's fine, at least it isn't 100% Duer 157099 Mar 2012 #12

This sums it up in video form... Johnny Rico Mar 2012 #15

Jim Carrey and Lauren Holly hooked up during this film thelordofhell Mar 2012 #48

On MSNBC, someone said it's easier to win the lottery than to get bitten by a shark ecstatic Mar 2012 #5

CNN reported that you have an 80x better chance of dying of mad cow disease... pinboy3niner Mar 2012 #13

The analogy I once read was: Blue_Tires Mar 2012 #18

I just did the math...that's *way* more unlikely. Johnny Rico Mar 2012 #30

10 tickets davekriss Mar 2012 #35

Exactly. laundry_queen Mar 2012 #47

Sometimes I think that the hope of winning a jackpot is more plausible LanternWaste Mar 2012 #7

It's a little thrill in a boring daily slog. wickerwoman Mar 2012 #8

I will be buying 5 after work Marrah_G Mar 2012 #9

When it gets up there nadinbrzezinski Mar 2012 #10

I'm buying one DefenseLawyer Mar 2012 #14

I bought a couple this time guitar man Mar 2012 #16

Some people have luck with the numbers. I don't play, but when my husband was alive he did notadmblnd Mar 2012 #27

I've never had much luck at anything guitar man Mar 2012 #39

you see that dark could up there? notadmblnd Mar 2012 #44

Yup guitar man Mar 2012 #45

9% ? HooptieWagon Mar 2012 #17

Perhaps $13000 is the maximum income to be considered "poor", Johnny Rico Mar 2012 #21

Well you know... ellisonz Mar 2012 #24

....and this is the entire point of this little exercise. Ikonoklast Mar 2012 #33

650.00 / 13000.00 = 0.05 = 5% ieoeja Mar 2012 #46

So eager to slam the OP you fail to read his post right above you that explains the math mathematic Mar 2012 #49

Post removed Post removed Mar 2012 #51

I DID say "eager" didn't I? mathematic Mar 2012 #53

lmao geardaddy Mar 2012 #52

net income dmallind Mar 2012 #29

The average income for all households with less than $13,000 will be well under $13,000 muriel_volestrangler Mar 2012 #31

I also just bought five lottery tickets, the first in several years, and wonder if anyone indepat Mar 2012 #19

i play b/c someone WILL win this pot of money and i want that person to be me although leftyohiolib Mar 2012 #20

They wouldn't have nearly as many people playing if that was the case. Johnny Rico Mar 2012 #22

yeah you might be correct didnt think of that b/c id crap myself if i won 1million leftyohiolib Mar 2012 #34

My pet peeve when the lottery gets a large jackpot DefenseLawyer Mar 2012 #23

It definitely isn't. (nt) Posteritatis Mar 2012 #41

Please don't punch him. It sounds like my brother. nt NoGOPZone Mar 2012 #43

Those with lots of money invest in the stock lottery; those with smaller resources play the numbers. HiPointDem Mar 2012 #25

Anyone know where the $645 statistic comes from? muriel_volestrangler Mar 2012 #26

I like to think of the lottery as a tax on people who can't do math. /nt Marr Mar 2012 #28

I personally won't play JonLP24 Mar 2012 #32

For many of them, it's the only chance of becoming wealthy they see Cirque du So-What Mar 2012 #36

+100 HughBeaumont Apr 2012 #56

I normally spend about 5 a year on ileus Mar 2012 #37

With those odds that's a ticket a week for four million years. Speck Tater Mar 2012 #38

You could guarantee a victory MrBig Mar 2012 #40

A small group of people did that with a lottery about ten years back, if I remember correctly. (nt) Posteritatis Mar 2012 #42

It would be a bad investment. Johnny Rico Mar 2012 #54

Math is hard. Codeine Mar 2012 #50

+1000000 stockholmer Apr 2012 #55

It was pointed out when these figures were first publciized that the reporting sucks... Viking12 Apr 2012 #57

I did ask about that in #26 muriel_volestrangler Apr 2012 #58

The "9%" an unwarranted extrapolation from a footnote in the study. Viking12 Apr 2012 #59

Remember the lottery in Orwell's 1984? Ron Obvious Apr 2012 #60

If you believe this story, slampoet Apr 2012 #61

I lol'd nt sudopod Apr 2012 #63

I probably spend $20 per year guardian Apr 2012 #62