The Lottery.
A Tax on Stupid People since 1569.
Apparently Prosperity Gospel has been around for half a millennium.
Reminds me of a lottery joke:
A poor man was praying to God and begging him, “Please, Lord, just let me win the lottery and I’ll share it with all the poor people.”
The day of the lottery came and he didn’t win.
Again he pleaded, “Please, Lord, just let me win the lottery and I’ll be the best man could possibly be!”
Again, the day of the lottery passed and no win.
Once more he begged, “Please, Lord, Just let me win the lottery!”
A voice suddenly sounded from nowhere, “Give me a break! AT LEAST GO BUY A TICKET!”..........................
“The Lottery, with its weekly pay-out of enormous prizes, was the one public event to which the proles paid serious attention. It was probable that there were some millions of proles for whom the Lottery was the principal if not the only reason for remaining alive. It was their delight, their folly, their anodyne, their intellectual stimulant. Where the Lottery was concerned, even people who could barely read and write seemed capable of intricate calculations and staggering feats of memory. There was a whole tribe of men who made their living simply by selling systems, forecasts, and lucky amulets. Winston had nothing to do with the Lottery, which was managed by the Ministry of Plenty, but he was aware (indeed everyone in the party was aware) that the prizes were largely imaginary. Only small sums were actually paid out, the winners of the big prizes being nonexistent persons.”
― George Orwell, 1984