The lottery is a way to distribute money or goods through random chance. It has been used since ancient times as a way to raise funds for various projects, from public works to family feuds. The earliest known European lottery was organized by King Francis I of France, in 1539, with the aim of funding the royal campaigns in Italy. The prizes at this time were fancy dinnerware or other articles of unequal value.
Lotteries have an inextricable role in society, and they know it. They aren’t just about dangling the promise of riches in an age of inequality and limited social mobility; they are also about normalizing and even glorifying gambling behavior. They know that they have to communicate two messages primarily:
The first message is that the lottery is fun, and they do that by emphasizing the experience of scratching a ticket. The second is that the odds are long, and they do that by highlighting the size of jackpots on billboards. Both messages are important, but they both obscure how much the lottery is a form of gambling and that many people who play it do so compulsively. The fact is, you’re four times as likely to be struck by lightning than to win a lottery prize. But the odds don’t make it feel that way to most players, who are convinced that they’re in a meritocratic race toward wealth that will lift them out of their current station in life.