Lotteries — A way to go

I never won a lottery in my life. The ‘lady luck’ never favoured me though I was upset after seeing a few of my colleagues winning lotteries. I wanted to make quick money and become rich instantly, which never happened. I remember my colleague winning a Maruthi 800 car in a raffle. She continued her effort to try her luck in every lottery she saw in front of her. While I am unsure how many she won, the theory of probabilities tells a different story. I remember my first raffle called the sweep. I had to pay two rupees and stay for the entire day for a useless event for the result. Needless to say that I did not get the prize. When I started earning, I bought the state lottery tickets, which promised lakhs of rupees. I paid one hundred rupees on a few occasions. The efforts were futile. My neighbour bought a lottery ticket every first day of the month, which became an addiction though he never won any single month. Referring to the lottery, many people think of it as a form of illegal gambling without the state’s permission. People may confuse lotteries and gambling because both are forms of money and rely on luck to receive prizes as cash.
Lotteries have raised hopes for human beings. The first known lotteries were tools for entertainment and public purposes from the Roman Empire. These early lotteries were very popular and were a painless way to collect taxes. The oldest and largest continuously operating lottery is the Staatsloterij, founded in 1726 in the Netherlands. The English word lottery comes from the Dutch noun “lotus”, which means “fate”.
Though gambling is a criminal offence in India, the central government has regulated the process. In states with lotteries, the state governments get a substantial portion of the lottery income, often passing some of that money to local governments. Lotteries not only provide revenue to these governments, but they also may help to keep tax rates down. Government lottery is available in thirteen states in India which have a set of criteria. These states consider lotteries as a good tax collecting tool.
Admission to some schools and colleges has become extremely difficult — IITs, IIMs and NIITS. Even if a student gets 98% in the selection examination, she is unsure of gaining admission. I am aware of a school in Delhi which requires 99% cut-off marks in the qualifying examination. Similar is the case with Civil Services examinations. After much effort, I have seen the best and the brightest unable to secure admissions. The same is the case with selecting a school for a tiny tot. I remember my cousin spending hours and days deciding the school for her three-year-old. She could have asked her daughter to pick her school using the lottery method alone instead of the research struggle.
The lottery process removes biases and saves a lot of energy in making life decisions easy. The USA’s work visas are chosen yearly by the lottery method. Some individuals would be unlucky, but it is a reasonably accessible method. Everyone understands the process and the outcome. I would also bat for selecting the ‘political’ leaders by lottery. Even the selection of a life partner would be accessible by the random picking method as one is unsure about the relationship quality after a few years.
I recommend that my readers read the book Blink and listen to Malcolm Gladwell of Revisionist History, how lotteries, in theory, could distribute leadership more effectively, from government elections to college admissions and grant applications.
“Luck is not as random as you think.
Before that lottery ticket won the jackpot, someone had to buy it.”
― Vera Nazarian, The Perpetual Calendar of Inspiration.