All Americans Must Be Mathematicians

That's why we don't fall for ridiculous gimmicks like lotteries...

oh.

wait..

Americans spent $58 billion on lottery tickets last year.

Meanwhile there are 3.5 million people in America who are homeless in any given year. That means we could give each homeless person a MILLION dollars to get their shit straight and still have billions of dollars left over to help with poverty, unemployment, cancer research, retirement funding, etc.

The sad part? Those with the lowest incomes waste more money on the "big dream".... For example, in Georgia, those who make less than $25, 000 annually spend 3 times as much on lottery tickets as those who make $75,000 or more a year.

Even sadder are the odds of winning which apparently has no effect at all whatsoever on the amount of money spent...

There is roughly a 1 in 54 million chance of winning the lottery. 

There is also:

• a 1 in 3 million chance of freezing to death
• a 1 in 86,000 chance of death by poisoning
• a 1 in 2 million chance of being struck by lightening
• a 1 in 150,000 chance of being killed by a dog
• a 1 in 1 million chance of dying in the tub
• a 1 in 58,000 chance of death by LEGAL EXECUTION

Americans are:

• 5 times more likely to be eaten by a shark
• 100 times more likely to be killed by an asteroid impact. (no, i'm not kidding).
• 540 times more likely to die by a venomous bite or sting
• 900 times more likely to die in a tornado