Of all the animals of prey, man is the only sociable one.
Every one of us preys upon his neighbour, and yet we herd together.
The Beggar's Opera: John Gay

Wednesday 23 May 2012

Offered without comment...

National Lottery sales hit an all-time high of £6.5 billion over the last year. Sales of National Lottery products, such as tickets and scratchcards, were up 12.1% on the previous year.
(Press Association)


Thomas Rowlandson: The Hazard Room
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4 comments:

  1. Demetrius23 May 2012 at 17:07

    Have you noticed the incredible number of betting firms on the Sports channels as well as on shirts and hoards around the football pitches?

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  2. Sen. C.R.O'Blene23 May 2012 at 20:36

    They nick-name it a 'tax on stupidity', and I suppose that's a fair description, although I once bought a lawnmower on some sundry winnings on a once-in-a-while shot...

    If you look at the Lottery as a dreamer's tax, then that's nearer to the mark.

    "Dreamer, you stupid little dreamer;
    So now you put your head in your hands, oh no!
    I said "Far out, - What a day, a year, a laugh it is!"
    You know, - Well you know you had it comin' to you,
    Now there's not a lot I can do.

    Well work it out someday"

    (Supertramp...!)

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  3. A K Haart23 May 2012 at 20:51

    I think people know being rich is the only safe thing to be these days and the lottery is their only chance.

    Well it's either that or hard work.

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  4. Macheath24 May 2012 at 09:21

    This was always going to be one of those stories where the comments are far more interesting than anything I could come up with.

    Demetrius, I had noticed that; there suddenly seem to be far more of them about. Does it mean the relaxing of some sort of regulation?

    What truly makes my blood run cold is the advent of internet gambling by mobile phone - no escape ever for problem gamblers.

    Scrobs, welcome! Yes, a tax on dreams is a good way to put it - and from Oprah to the X-Factor, people are constantly being told that they can 'follow their dreams' and 'make dreams come true'.

    The 'It could be you' slogan tapped into the same vein - except, that is, for those of us who have read Frank Roberts' chilling dystopian story of the same name (highly recommended).

    AKH - When a child tells you of future plans to be a premiership footballer or a supermodel, you put it down to immaturity; unfortunately, I suspect a large proportion of lottery tickets are sold to people who have never progressed beyond that level.

    ReplyDelete

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