Bad gambling instincts

THE GovERNmEisrr's Green Paper on gambling proposes to deregulate the sector. This development may be inevitable, given the taste for a gamble which the National Lottery has afforded the 30 million Britons who play it weekly, but it should set off alarm bells in those who believe a good society is not built on risk-taking but on hard graft, for those who view life not as a chance undertaking but as a long journey towards a spiritual well-being. Personal investment, not the luck of the draw, should be the motor of our social machinery. Gambling makes a mockery of the all-important principle of personal responsibility the outcome depends on the roll of a dye, on the cards in our hand, the twirl of a roulette.
Gambling reinforces the view of society as an arena of winners and losers, rather than of members of a community who share rights as well as duties, benefits as well as mutual obligations. In short, gambling makes our world a place where Lady Luck, rather than merit or hard slog determines our future. Already, Gamblers Anonymous has expressed its horror at the proposed deregulation, offering plenty of anecdotal evidence to illustrate the link between organised crime and gambling, as well as the number of petty crimes committed by desperate addicts who will risk their jobs, their families' welfare, even their lives, to satisfy their hunger for the thrill of the gamble.
The National Lottery, it cannot be denied, has caught the imagination of the public at large. It has become part of the national landscape, and though raised the lid of this Pandora's Box of vices, perhaps it's time to rethink the National Lottery.