@Mikal

Yep. I only played when it hit $500M. $1B nowadays. Great entertainment value.

First, I’d retain an attorney...

#spendthemoney #powerball #lottery

Last thing, at least for now that I'd spend #Powerball money on would be a housing land trust in the Bay Area for houseless people. This is more straightforward: buy up existing houses, especially those that can be divided into multiple units and buy up vacant property, especially if it can be used to build tiny-house style townhomes. The organization would be a nonprofit with a majority of formerly houseless people/current residents on the board. Residency would include a lifetime lease (free if you were broke), drug/alcohol/trauma/etc. counseling as needed, health insurance if they didn't have it, a community college scholarship (or GED tutoring), and whatever else someone needed to get off the street and build a life.

Because the land trust would own the properties and act as landlord, the nimbys couldn't say a single thing about who they leased to. (Seriously, fuck anti-housing nimbys.)

#SpendTheMoney

The other projects I can think of to #SpendTheMoney on are bigger. First would be to find people who could find people who could find the right people to set up an organization dedicated to building search as a noncommercial online commons. I think this is desperately needed to make the internet work. Search is currently broken and getting worse. The incentives of search as a commercial enterprise, especially ad-driven one, and the needs of everyday users are deeply at odds. Once a team of the best theorists and engineers was assembled, I'd fund this project for ten years or so. If it couldn't get off the ground by then, well... RIP.

#Powerball

I have a few very specific ways I'd spend #Powerball winnings. First, a bunch of friends who will otherwise never be able to afford it will get free houses.

I have a list of organizations whose work I appreciate and who seem to not be bloated charities. They'd get something like a fund that would pay them, say, $5 million/year for ten years, i.e. something allowing them to budget for long-term projects.

I'd also set up a fund that would allow me to be anonymous and direct checks to people with creative projects for whom $5K to $30K would make a massive difference. I'd have trusted scouts bringing me projects and then would send a long list every few weeks to the firm that was writing the checks. It would be like a mini-McArthur grant, but from an anonymous source. It would be fun to watch people get stoked about it. I'd have to be anonymous, though.

#SpendTheMoney

I usually buy a Powerball ticket when it gets this insanely high. I find it a fun thought experiment to think of how I'd spend it.

Reply with how you would #SpendTheMoney hashtag. This could be fun!
#PowerBall #Lottery