Really? Don’t tell me you did it. You bought a fucking lottery ticket? You moron!

Easy, Man! It’s Just Two Dollars!

The record Powerball jackpot has created quite the buzz. However, just like that email from the Nigerian prince, it’s a scam. Any knowledge of taxes and expected value should tell you that.

It’s not breaking news that the lottery is a poor decision, but millions still play. The popular excuse is that it’s fun to dream about what they would do with the money if they won.

It may seem like such a hard stance to call Powerball players idiots, but playing the lottery is indicative of other bad choices.

I have two main grievances against the lottery: The News Coverage and The Mindset.

The News Coverage

Television, Social Media, and the Newspapers have been filled recently with coverage devoted to this get-rich-quick scheme. I’m sure the airwaves will continue to be polluted when a winner is announced. Tell me a story about a man who worked his ass of to make his money instead of one made rich by dumb luck. Elon Musk became a billionaire by developing an electric car company and a spaceship business. Joe Powerball became a billionaire because he was able to find eight quarters in his desk drawer.

A popular story is the ‘Curse of the Lottery’ chronicling how one-time Powerball millionaires go broke and bankrupt a couple of years after striking it rich. The truth is there is no curse of the lottery, just a curse of being really fucking stupid. Is it surprising that a person who thinks the lottery is a bright idea has trouble managing their money?

Also, why do lottery news articles always seem cite someone with a PhD in Mathematics? “According to Dr. Smith, the odds of winning are 1 in 292 million”. This isn’t differential equations, it’s basic probability. A 7th grader should be able to calculate those odds.  Perhaps you should have to pass a test in probability and expected value before you participate, just so players realize how stupid they are.

The Mindset

By playing the Powerball it says that you subscribe to the belief that millionaires should be created by luck. That you hope minimal effort will bring about amazing results. It’s a mindset that leads people to buy a vibrating ab belt with hopes of losing 100 lbs. This should not be the mindset of the masses.

What really bothers me is that a person who has created zero value will become a multi-millionaire. Millions of dollars should be a reflection of hard work and intelligent decisions. Playing the lottery fails both of those tests.

The sad thing is this the lottery represents the best hope some people have of becoming a millionaire. One in 292 million. Ten minutes spent buying a ticket. A couple days fantasizing how to spend the millions. Fuck it. Create your own luck

What Should You Do Instead?

Read about self-made millionaires. Mark Cuban, Elon Musk, and Sam Walton are some great examples with fantastic biographies. Quit dreaming about how your going to make millions and go do it yourself. Stop relying on luck to make your dreams a reality and become self-reliant.

Goal #20 – 100,000 View for Lethal Engineering

Last year, for my 26 before 26 list, I only managed 30,000 views for my YouTube channel, falling far short of my goal of 100,000 views. I duplicated that goal for my 27 before 27 list and an interesting thing began to happen. YouTube started suggesting my Rocket Launcher video on similar videos. Viewership immediately shot up and I achieved my goal of 100,000 views in under four months.

All Those Views, You Must Be Making Some Money!

Getting paid on YouTube is quite easy. You set up an AdSense account, choose which videos to monetize (no copyrighted music!), and watch the money pile up.

Not Exactly…

My channel, which has 265,000 lifetime views, just recently met the minimum income required to get paid ($100).

I currently make anywhere from 50¢ to 60¢ per 1,000 views. That’s such a small amount of money that I had to look up the keyboard shortcut for the ‘cents’ symbol (Alt+0162). Don’t get me wrong, I’m stoked to be making passive income from my videos, it’s just a low amount relative to what’s possible on YouTube. There are other users making making $2.50 to $5.00 per 1,000 views. I need to figure out why that is.

It may be a result of a majority of my views coming from international countries. Views from highly developed countries (United States, Germany, Canada, United Kingdom) pay more . For example, 17% of my views are from the United States but make up 46% of my earnings whereas 5.1% of views are from Indonesia but account for a measly 1.2% of earnings.

It may also be the total time my videos are viewed. YouTube places more adds on videos that have a longer view duration, and my average is quite low at 1:16.

It’s Not About The Money

Even if I made no money through these videos, I would continue to produce them. I love building cool shit and YouTube provides a means to showcase those projects to the masses.

My dream would be to make a living off a YouTube. It’s possible with a high level of commitment and creativity, but would require several orders of magnitude more views. In order to accomplish that goal, I need to devote more time and energy to producing interesting, entertaining content.

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite videos that I’ve made. My friend Ben needed to make something solar powered for a school project. We strapped some batteries and a solar panel onto my beer cannon and made this video. He got an A on this project!