re: How do we change the culture of bad decision-making?

It's an insanely complicated problem that people LOVE to transform into a single bullet point.

You know, like "stop being lazy" or "quit blaming the rich".

I've been in both boats. I have a high value skill set but also worked for small companies that suddenly couldn't afford my salary and I was out looking for work again.

If I had lived in a higher concentration of people (NYC, DC, LA, etc) I'm sure I would have found a job in no time. Instead I had to wait a few months between jobs (namely because my layoffs occurred in October time frame, and most companies don't hire high-end skill sets until after New Years).

We live in a society that tells people to "get a job", then we treat people with low-paying jobs like dirt. Not everyone does it, of course, but I can think of MANY occasions where some rude jackass was screaming at the person running the register at McDonald's because there was a 3 minute wait on fries. That person makes $7.25 an hour, and is being told they're the most worthless scum on the planet because of the fate of the timer on the fryer.

Both sides have attributed to the problem. Welfare needs to be limited to those who truly need it and are seeking employment, just like unemployment is. People need to stop treating people working in the service industry like crap.

We love the idea of a black and white world, where every problem as an on/off switch solution. It's not that simple, and simply acknowledging that it isn't that simple is the first step in fixing the culture.

That said, take it from me - the idea of a lottery ticket fixing your income issues is massively appealing when you're staring at no headway on your finances getting caught up. Spending $5 on a lottery ticket doesn't change much if you're doing it once a month, but winning (despite the long odds) can change a lot. For some people, that's the reason.

Hell, for some people, just the HOPE that they might win can carry them through a little bit.