Money for Nothing: The Growing "Lottery Effect" in Modern Society

Maybe I am just getting old and struggling to make sense of the "New Realities" of modern society, but there are certain things I see happening in our world that trouble me. 

One of these is something I informally started referring to as "The Lottery Effect," some 15-20 years ago. 

It may be coincidental, but it seemed to really start moving from a fairly uncommon thing to something major developing in tandem with the growth and adoption of the Internet, as a broadly used medium. As I said, that may be purely coincidental.

It's About MORE than mere "Entitlement"

Now, what I am about to describe is considered by many as more and more people having a sense of "unrealistic entitlement" in life. However, I believe we are talking about something more than that... and it is far less of a generational thing we can conveniently lay at the feet of so-called "Millennials," rather, it's a longer-term trend that can be traced back to the obsession with "growth" inherent within less-than-healthy expressions of capitalism. It is particularly evident in the United States, but is by no means limited to this country.

My thoughts here arose in part some weeks back from reading an excellent post by @hilarski, entitled "Stop Asking for Easy!" Well worth a look, if you have a couple of minutes.

Lying With Statistics

The other day, I found myself reading a summary of the latest economic data for our county in our local newspaper, and something stood out: Although the overall economic numbers for our area looked fairly solid, the economic columnist had added one somber detail... income for the average job in our area has been declining for over 20 years.

Translated into common English: It's not that people are "making less," but they have to "work more" (aka: hold two jobs) in order to merely "stay in place," vis-a-vis the cost of living.

This may not come as a surprise for many (especially if you have been struggling financially), but it was interesting to see it in print, and an interesting reminder of how even "the facts" can be twisted to state something that's not truly reflective of a situation.

"THE Economy" vs. INDIVIDUAL Economies

We see a lot of government reports and news shows that proclaim the economy to be "growing," or at least somewhat "stagnant." And that's probably true, in the "macro" sense of the word. We can look at things like "Gross National Product per Capita" and "Median Incomes" and point to them as growing.

But these numbers don't really mean much, at street level. 

They don't mean much for my friend who's a house painter, who has to work 60 hours a week to make ends meet, where he used to work 45 hours a week, 15 years ago... without having experienced any significant improvement in his family's quality of life. But when responding to the question "how much does a house painter make?" his answer will reflect that (monetarily) he's doing OK.

Like many of us, he has been subject to what I call "Ghost Inflation," which is not recorded anywhere but is experienced by most of us as a sort of creeping increase in the cost of the fundamental "basket of goods" needed to have a so-called life.

The Cost of Living isn't What You THINK it is!

I'll offer one very simple example... and then move on, because this is not an economics article.

In 1985, my "telecommunications needs" were covered by one phone line, "long distance service" (a separate gig back then), a subscription to "basic cable" TV and about 20 first class stamps a month to physically mail checks for my bills. All in all, that cost about $65 a month, in 1985 dollars. 

Now, if we take those $65 and plug them into a US Inflation Calculator, we end up with $147.16 in 2017 dollars.

So far, so good.

But here's where we encounter a problem. 2017 "telecommunications needs" are not the same as 1985. Today, I still have a land line phone (because I live in an area with dodgy cell service) which costs $86 a month with a "calling plan;" I also still have "basic cable" which now runs $54 a month; in addition to which we now also "must have" cellphones, service and payments of which run about $120 a month; and we have Internet service, which runs about $85 a month, once you get all the nickel-and-dime taxes and fees added on. The cost of stamps to mail bills has gone away, but has been replaced with an online banking/bill pay service for $5 a month. 

Our actual basket called "telecommunications needs" in 2017 costs roughly $350.00 a month, in 2017 dollars. That's a far cry from from an inflation adjusted $147.16 we calculated before.

Now, we can engage in a long philosophical discussion about whether we are "better off" as a result of modern inventions... but that's somewhat irrelevant to the examination of individual economic struggles.

So what does this have to do with the Lottery Effect?

The "Lottery Effect" is this pervasive sense that with everything we attempt to do we must "make it REALLY big," in order for it to be worthwhile. 

The traditional sense of "doing well" and "being successful" has changed considerably, in the last 50 years. 

The idea of someone starting a small business and ending up with a successful local hardware store (for example) used to be a "model" for a good life, but now it is typical seen as "not good enough." 

Playing your favorite sport and getting "quite good" was an  enviable achievement in its day, but now you must be a "Mega Star" or you have not succeeded.

Simply being a good actor or musician and making a name for yourself and a decent living in your local community is no longer "good enough;" unless you become a superstar, you have "failed."

Sooo... What Does This MEAN?

This type of thinking sets up a high pressure-dynamic where what people are reaching for may look like "entitlement," to the casual observer but in fact is merely a natural response to current economic pressures... pressures that increasingly place greater demands on us... so we feel pressured towards ever greater measures for "success," simply to "make it."

The actor strives for "Hollywood blockbuster or nothing." The programmer feels the need to create some revolutionary "dot.com," or it's a failure. The new hire at a company feels like they "failed" if they are not vice president in six months. 

Not so much because they feel entitled, but because that's what success is, by many current measures. People simply feel they "need" more simply to not lose ground.

We even see expressions of it here on Steemit, where people join the community and feel like they "should" be earning lots of rewards for their content... or it's "not worthwhile." 

What We See Around Us

Evidence of the Lottery Effect as a growing part of our social landscape is everywhere. 

We even see it in areas such as investing... the idea of gradually building a portfolio of stocks over a period of many years has been replaced by the perceived "need" to score on a "high flyer" that triples in value in 30 days. Sorry folks, that's not investing, that's "playing the lottery." 

We see it in work scenarios-- whether it's new employees feeling "disappointed" that they have not risen to be president of the company in two years... or self-employment where a start-up company isn't just about succeeding in making a good living, but "must" be the next SnapChat. 

Meanwhile, more and more people play the lottery or go to the casinos because they see the only way to reach the version of success they envision for themselves requires a large sum of sudden money. 

Of course, it's not realistic... and typically leads to disappointment.

What do YOU think? Have you noticed that there's a "Lottery Effect" in the world? Does it seem like a sense of entitlement? Or does it actually feel like it is born out of desperation, because "success" is harder and harder to find? Does it seem to you that your-- and other people's-- personal economy has no connection to "THE" economy? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- start the conversation!

(As always, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)