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It would seem to me that all wealth is at the expense of others. I like your comment, but I think it needs to account for the fact that non-lottery wealth comes from either being lucky (born into it, or first to market) or by taking from other people.

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That seems a little too pessimistic to me. The economy is absolutely not a zero sum game.

Looked at individual transactions within the economy - i.e. how this thread is looking at the lottery - those do appear to be zero sum in the same way.

It's usually other people voluntarily give it to them, not that they take it.

First to market isn't just luck. It's often the result of work harder and faster and taking more risk than others. It's not as if Bill Gates just sat around and told people to make software.

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