Ask HN: Is Getting into Academia a Lottery?

No, winning a lottery is a random event. Everyone has the same chance at winning.

Academia is a highly political environment, where actual competence is a secondary consideration. If you want a position, and eventual tenure, you're going to have to learn to play the game, publish or perish.

Not sure, but my experience (with the US system, undergraduate level) has been that if you’re a non traditional student it will be significantly more difficult. It seems it’s not a hackable system, the bureaucracy is too strong.

You mean like getting into a university? It might be a lottery at some level, but you definitely increase your odds by cheating the system (good grades, good SAT/ACT scores, etc...)