For the Love of Money

Okay, I get that articles like this, bereft of anything resembling actual news but still needing to talk up the state lottery industries, are basically insouciant fluff. But Americans already wallow in insouciant fluff, and many of us have a very unhealthy attitude about money, including (perhaps especially) large sums of money. Everything is on the margin, and in the case of housing, that's turned into a dangerous proposition that bit a lot of people squarely on the ass, even though it was entirely foreseeable.

It's a very Cribs mentality, actively encouraged by finance-driven industries which have to count on people being ignorant or frivolous with money. A large windfall is for some folks apparently an opportunity to indulge their inner asshole. This is really too bad; having money should simply be an opportunity to not have to worry about money anymore, to find out what you really wanted out of life, unburdened of having to survive paycheck to paycheck. To be the sort of person that came to find you really wanted to be able to buy a $98 million diamond-studded skull, well, you might as well just go the traditional route and swim in booze, drugs, and strippers until the gravy train derails.

Seriously, though, I think most of us reach a certain age of maturity where we stop spanking it to meaningless overtures of bling and flamboyance, and yet are still plied by endless blandishments of jonesmanship and covetousness. It's a natural part of living in an economy that would collapse if everyone lived within their means. Don't get me wrong, if I won the lottery -- of course, I'd have to play first -- I'd have some fun with some of the money, no doubt. But not in this weird, flashy realm of vulgar excess cultivated by a celeb-sniffing me-first pseudoculture.

One of the commenters in the linked article claimed to have won $20 mil or so in the lottery, and wanted to use his winnings to build a race track and buy a hundred Ferraris to race on it. I was six years old once too, but at some point we have to grow the hell up, take a look around ourselves, and understand the opportunities afforded us by such miraculously long shots of luck. I don't buy the "mo' money, mo' problems" axiom either, but I certainly wouldn't mind finding out for myself.