I really dislike stories like this, because they amount to just one thing:
Morality tales written by amoral journalists. This is about as bad as morality tales created and performed by immoral Hollywood types.
Yet the people who really advocate this stuff are both bitter and greedy. “I will never have a lot of money, so other people should never have a lot of money. Because money corrupts people by making them think they are better than me.”
You hear people like Al Gore, who inherited his money from his corrupt politician father, who complains about other people who “win life’s lottery”. He really has no grasp of how *most* people with money actually *earned* it through their hard work.
The typical American millionaire lives in an average house in the suburbs, looks and acts normal, doesn’t travel a whole lot, continues to work as either a small businessman or professional. They continue to put in more than an 8-hour day, including a lot of “unpaid overtime”. And they invest in only very conservative investments. If stocks, not for a quick sale at a higher price, but dividends.
The typical American who isn’t a millionaire often assumes that there are only two ways to become a millionaire: by either staggeringly hard work and deprivation, or by “winning” money by inheritance or in a lottery. While for a tiny percentage this is true, for most it isn’t.
The bottom line is that money is like alcohol, “the neutral spirit”. It is not inherently good or bad, but can be put to very good use, or abused to your detriment.
That some lottery winners failed is predictable. The majority spent some, saved most. If they gave away a large part of it, the same rule applied to those who received the gift. If they were wise, they benefited. If they were foolish, bitter and greedy, like journalists, they probably wasted it.
-—Morality tales written by amoral journalists. This is about as bad as morality tales created and performed by immoral Hollywood types.-—
Insightful post. TY.
It is said that for every ten men that can cope with losing everything, there is only one that can cope with striking it rich.
And the problem is that the wealth is “sudden”.
If I ever win the lotto, the first thing I will do is hire an accountant, and every time any charity asks for money I’ll just give them my accountant’s card, who will politely tell them no. Unless it is a charity I really DO want to support.
I suppose that I should buy a ticket first though. Maybe some day.
Actually, I have said that if God wanted me to win the lotto I need buy only one ticket. So I did. 14 years ago.
I didn’t win...
Well said. Journalism rarely rises above a tabloid focus on either end of the bell curve of behavior and then predictably reports what they find there as everyday, garden variety normal.