The national lottery – you've got to be in it to
win it; it could be you; millions raised for good causes;... we all
know the slogans and headlines – but is it actually causing more
damage to our communities than good?
Lotteries tend to work on a pretty simple basis of
wealth redistribution: everyone pays in a bit and someone gets the
pot at the end. Effectively, we all make ourselves (the majority) a
little poorer and someone else (the minority) a lot richer. Sounds a
lot like the stuff that loads of people and campaigns are railing
against at the moment when it happens in banking or politicians, but
someone we don't seem to mind it when we've willingly made ourselves
an active participant to the process...?
But what about the money it distributes to good
causes? Well, yes – its supported a lot of good projects and
activities, but to what extent is this just a sticking plaster over
an increasingly big wound? - to what extent is the 'good' that it
supports being surpassed by its model of encouraging and celebrating
extreme wealth inequality?
Be fascinated to know if anyone’s done any
research on this, or any social science or economic researches might
be interested to look into this further...
(oh, and for the record – I don't play the
lottery and never have: but only because I'm a saddo who's worked out
the odds and realised I can make better use of the £ every week that would be otherwise spent on tickets and scratchcards...)
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