Sunday, December 30, 2012

If we're going to have lotteries, this is the one we need


Okay, so America has come to the conclusion we're going to have lotteries, fine.  Here we are.

There's been a push to have ever-bigger lotteries, too, with ever-bigger jackpots and prizes. Apparently Americans like those better and react to them more and buy more tickets (rather sadly) because of it.

So I propose we do one lottery nationally or in as many states as possible and as soon as possible. Here's what I propose:

We create one big $25 million per week lottery--or twice a week if it's successful, with a drawing on Wednesday and Saturday evenings, but with one big change. And that change should be that, instead of having one winner of one, big prize, we take out 25 separate winners at random from all of the people who bought tickets already,  and have them be the winners.

Voila. Twenty-five winners each drawing and of one million dollars each (actually about $650,000 each, after taxes).

Think about that.

Twenty-five people winning a very manageable $650,000 each, all scattered over the country, in different states, instead of one winner with a huge jackpot prize that would likely screw them up.

It would be far better for the people who win, week after week and time after time, and it would also be far better for the towns, cities and counties all these people live in. The wealth would be far better, far more wisely distributed.

Then, the people who have already won would be blocked from being able to win again for one year. That way, yet more people could win. They wouldn't be blocked from buying more tickets, they'd only be blocked from winning until one year had passed from their previous win.

It would quickly, if eventually, make far more people truly happy and would help more people, nationally.

It only makes sense.

It likely won't happen but it should.

Here's hoping.