We Can End Poverty Right Now
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (118587)
Gainesville, Florida
January 11, 2016 5:31pm CST
Lottery excitement is at an all-time high, and the fever continues to grow by the day as we approach the next drawing of the Powerball lottery on Wednesday night. The jackpot now stands at $1.3 billion dollars, and is sure to grow higher by Wednesday night. It the highest jackpot in history.
But has anyone sat down and really thought about how much money $1.3 billion actually is? Has anyone written it out on paper just to see how many zeros are behind that 1.3? If you haven't, here's what it looks like: 1,300,000,000.
Now, does anyone know what the current population of the United States is? As of 2014, it 317 million people. Written out, it looks like this: 317,000,000.
If you divide the current population of the United States by the jackpot of the Powerball lottery, you will realize that if we just distributed that money equally among every citizen of the United States, each person would get $4.1 million.
Yes, each of us would receive over $4 million dollars! BOOM...poverty solved! Debt...eliminated. Dreams...come true!
Wouldn't it be nice to just take all that money and distribute it equally among everyone? I certainly wouldn't argue if someone offered me $4.1 million!
11 people like this
10 responses
@moffittjc (118587)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 Jan 16
Darn it! I knew it was too good to be true! I never claimed to be a math whiz! Thanks for correcting my mistake! I still wouldn't mind someone giving me $4.10 though!
5 people like this
@paigea (35761)
• Canada
12 Jan 16
@moffittjc You will be getting $4.10 every now and then from myLot
3 people like this
@moffittjc (118587)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Jan 16
@paigea I guess that will have to do for now until I hit the $1.3 billion jackpot! lol
2 people like this
@VivaLaDani13 (60541)
• Perth, Australia
12 Jan 16
I have thought about this before. I mean we always have some sort of lottery going on. So many competitions etc but I feel the money could be used for something better and greater. Really bugs me when people who are already rich win the lottery. The money could be used to help those who really need it.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (118587)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Jan 16
That pisses me off more than anything, when I see someone who doesn't need the money win the money! And then they don't even give any of it to charity! I guess those people will get what they deserve when they stand at the pearly gates someday!
2 people like this
@cherriefic (10400)
• Philippines
12 Jan 16
Maybe that's how luck usually works. It's unfair but we can just hope someone who really needs it gets the price.
3 people like this
@moffittjc (118587)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Jan 16
@cherriefic My best friend is like that. He is the luckiest person I have ever met. He wins everything! And the sad thing is he is rich and doesn't even need the money! But luck follows him around everywhere he goes!
2 people like this
@scorpiobabes (7225)
• United States
12 Jan 16
I know that you've already received the bad news, that not everyone will get rich, and that someone has already shared where your error was. Your heart was in the right place though, and for that, as an American citizen, let me thank you.
And now the Powerball Jackpot is up to $1.5 billion! 
@scorpiobabes (7225)
• United States
13 Jan 16
@moffittjc You wouldn't be using common core math now, would you? I just heard that if no one wins it this time, the jackpot will be....
TWO BILLION DOLLARS!
Of course, with the economy, just how far WOULD it go?
@moffittjc (118587)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jan 16
@scorpiobabes Apparently, I did use common core math! lol Seriously, my mistake was a simple one because my little calculator I was using didn't have enough space to expand out to billions, and so I kept putting in the wrong figure!
@moffittjc (118587)
• Gainesville, Florida
13 Jan 16
Wow! It's up to $1.5 billion? Does that mean we'll now get $4.1 million each? lol
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118587)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Jan 16
I just think that $1.3 billion dollars is too much money for one person to handle. It's just too much money. There should be a way to fairly distribute that money to multiple people.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118587)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Jan 16
Math was never my strong point! I realized my error about a half second after I posted! But it never hurts to dream!
2 people like this
@Scindhia (1906)
• India
12 Jan 16
Your thought sounds interesting but in reality it is never going to happen. Whatever you suggest is an ideal world where there are no preconceptions and prejudices.
@moffittjc (118587)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Jan 16
You are correct! I know what I said is nothing more than just a fantasy. Things don't work like that in the real world. But it never hurts to dream!
@cherriefic (10400)
• Philippines
12 Jan 16
Im sure that can help a lot of people. But instant money is not always the answer to poverty.
@cherriefic (10400)
• Philippines
12 Jan 16
@moffittjc That's right. It will just end up into waste.
@moffittjc (118587)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Jan 16
That is correct! Most people who are in poverty who suddenly find themselves rich with large sums of money will just end up broke again in about 5 years. Most people don't have the money management skills to be educated enough or disciplined enough to handle such large sums of money.
@Tampa_girl7 (49132)
• United States
12 Jan 16
Unfortunately we don't have the lottery in Mississippi.
@moffittjc (118587)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Jan 16
How far of a drive is it to the nearest lottery-playing state? I see a road trip in somebody's future! lol
@bookbar (1609)
• Sudbury, England
12 Jan 16
Lottery payouts are becoming just ridiculous, how could anyone ever need or even be able to handle... as demonstrated by those whose dreams have turned into sad nightmares.
I think they should at least increase the smaller prizes, giving more people a smaller bite at the cherry and spreading a little more joy to the world...
@moffittjc (118587)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 Jan 16
I agree! When the jackpots get past a certain size amount, the lottery officials should have some type of formula or algorithm where more winners are chosen, or maybe those who match 5 out of 6 get higher payouts, etc. Where the lottery stands right now, it's just way too much for any one person to handle.
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
12 Jan 16
Your heart is in the right place, but you proved the title of one of my posts about the lottery. We Really Do Stink at math.
Ha Ha. But your heart was in the right place. I am sure if you won all this money (it would be about $450 million after taxes and fees), you would help several people other than yourself. just be sure to find someone who is exceptional at math, taxes and the law to help you. 
@moffittjc (118587)
• Gainesville, Florida
13 Jan 16
My lack of math skills is exactly why I would need to hire a great team of experts to keep me straight!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (118587)
• Gainesville, Florida
14 Jan 16
@ElizabethWallace Surround yourself with the best possible people! It helps make you look good!
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
13 Jan 16
@moffittjc This is true for all of us. We cannot be fabulous in every aspect of life. It is why the highly intelligent hire experts.
