There're three questions strangers pose to me that cause me to lose hope in the long-term viability of the human race. The first one is, "Did you watch (insert lame TV show or sports game/program here) on TV last night?!" The second is, "Hey, you gonna play the Powerball?! The lottery is up to ten million bucks!" And third and last is, "Who are you voting for?" Ok, in order: Television is the best circus to pacify and entertain the masses since the Roman Coliseum went Chapter 11. If anyone thinks the government isn't telling you what they wish you to believe on that device, you are sadly mistaken. The lottery is a gambling game run by your state government. So, let me guess…you also play those games on the carnival midway and think you'll win those, too, am I correct? Lastly, voting is just an iteration of the government-run lottery. Except the "prize", so to speak, couldn't be sold for a mangled, road-found penny if it was for sale in a vending machine. In fact, I think they should just put the election ballots where they belong: In those vending machines sitting in supermarket lobbies, along with all the fake tattoos and plastic hip-hop jewelry.

Think about it for a moment. The state government runs a gambling system that is pretty much a gigantic money-making enterprise. Plus, they get to tax the winnings! Man, they get some of it right back! They also often dole out the big winnings in yearly payments, probably so you can't abscond the country with it all. But everyone I know that has played this regime rip-off has never won so much as ten bucks but has lost cash up into the hundreds of dollars. I tend to think the guy who wins the jackpot is probably a government shill to begin with. That's how most gambling scams work and the government ought to know since they run the biggest one called "elections".