Not all that long ago my friend Michele and I were passing the time at the beach by brainstorming what we’d do with all that money if we won the lottery.
I’ve written about the peripheral issues of that topic before, linked here and here. On that day, though, we were discussing the common tendency for people to be very generous and philanthropic with lottery winnings. Some people would take care of their whole family for life, many would give to the church, some would know they could spend the rest of their lives in service to others, such as living as missionaries, and not have to worry about whether or not they had enough money to survive.
I’m not that altruistic. I feel a little guilty admitting that, but the truth is, I’m just not. I am a rabid proponent of the old adage, “give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime.” And I’m a capitalist. I know capitalism is imperfect, but I believe it’s been a major source of good in the world. I think people need the dignity of work, that being able to keep the fruit of your own labor is a basic human right, and that reaping the rewards of your own labor creates opportunities to all that are not afforded by other socio-economic systems.
My answer to Michele to the question about what I’d do with the money from lottery winnings was that I’d hire “people.” I’d have people to clean my house, to cook for me, to take care of the landscaping, to drive me back and forth from air and cruise ports as I travel, manage my newfound wealth…that sort of thing. And I guess if I actually win the lottery I’d need a lawyer and an accountant. And probably security guys. I’d have “people.” You know, like in movies, where the big shots say, “have your people call my people”. Us peasants always laugh at that. I might start businesses or make investments to help give jobs to people, but if I win the lottery, I’m not giving money to people just because I had the good fortune to win and they have the good fortune to be related to me. Except my mother. My mother can have as much money from me as she wants or needs.
Last week Michele and I went to lunch in Sarasota. She needed to return some left over floor tile from the repair of her house after Hurricane Ian. I needed to go back to a restaurant there where I’d accidentally left a sweater a few days before. In the car we were discussing the past week when she had four different crews working on her house repairs. There was an electrician, drywallers, floor people, and the pool guy all working for her at the same time. Michele said she sat in her chair and felt like she was surveying her “people” working in her kingdom. “I could get used to this having ‘people’ thing,” she laughingly told me.
Amen to that, sister. There’s another old saying that says, Lord, please let me win the lottery so I can show you how humble I am. I googled that thinking it would make a good graphic for this post. I was stunned to find how many seemingly serious websites there are about praying (with suggested prayers) to win the lottery. If you need some help, here’s one. And here’s another. I thought this second website was a joke, but the food truck guy seems sincere and humble. I imagine anyone relying on a food truck to support themselves needs all the help he can get. It does appear a tad sacrilegious though. Praying to win the lottery also reminds me of a scene in the Bruce Almighty movie that I’ll never forget. Watch it here.
Randy and I found ourselves in Vegas once when our church in Camdenton needed funds to complete a building project. We didn’t go to Vegas for that purpose, but we approached the slot machines praying that all funds we won would be used to complete the building project. God did not answer those prayers. C’est la vie.
My goodness, I felt such an overwhelming urge to have “people” after spending the day with Michele that I bought a ticket each for both the Powerball and Megamillions lotteries. After all, it’s true that you can’t win if you don’t play. Powerball bombed (nobody won) Saturday night. I could have a LOT of people with the nearly billion dollars the jackpot is up too. The Megamillions jackpot tonight is just over a half billion dollars. I could make that work too. I guess I’ll keep investing a few bucks a week until someone (me???) wins those big jackpots. Helping provide a good living for so many people is a noble cause and a good trade-off. 😁
P.S. Despite the current popularity of socialism in America, history shows that it has been tried and discarded because it doesn’t work. The Plymouth Colony, set up after the Mayflower landed in what is now Massachusetts, was originally set up as a collectivist utopia. Here is an article on what happened as a result and why the Plymouth Pilgrims progressed from the false dream of socialism to the sound realism of capitalism.
Leave a Reply