The Lottery of Life

Once again, this is very similar to a previous prompt. I don’t know if it is deliberately done or whether the AI algorithm just gets asked for any random prompt it can suggest. Anyway, I thought I would look at the issue with the lottery as a concept that keeps people dreaming rather than focusing on the reality of their situation, even if it’s just for a couple of hours a week.

When we look at the lottery of life, we see people who start with at least four out of the six numbers on their entries. They have rich parents, they go to private schools and in those schools they meet the people who will smooth their way through life through the network of contacts who they can call on whenever they need a favour. They can afford to work for free on internships even if they don’t really need to. Their path to the jackpot of life is gilded and straightforward. Now I know what some people reading this will say. They will point to the people who started off with no numbers on their entries but still hit the jackpot. I realise that this happens very occasionally, but it is vanishingly rare in every walk of life apart from sport, and they have a different trajectory as a result of their talent. For every person who succeeds, and supposedly proves that success is possible for everyone, there are 99 people who do not. It’s not to do with effort, despite what the influencers will tell you, because the vast majority of those who do not hit the jackpot try just as hard as those who are fortunate enough to succeed. Although they don’t know what necessarily causes them to fail, they will be told it’s down to them. The myth of a meritocracy where it is down to talent and hard work is, for the vast majority, just that, a myth. The Lottery of Life is simply stacked against anyone who is not from the upper echelons. Even if they get to the top through luck and merit they are looked down on by those who got there thanks to their advantage of birth.

Do I despise success? No, I don’t. What I do despise is the narrative that it’s all about you and your efforts as it is incredibly damaging to individuals and society as a whole. Now, I am going to finish this blog and spend a few quid on tonight’s lottery!!