While the story doesn’t sound menacing at all, it seems that there’s something wrong with this lottery system. For one, the villagers seem very clear-eyed about the odds of winning. They know that the smallest prize is almost guaranteed to go to someone else, and they don’t mind that the odds are long for the larger prizes. In fact, they’ve come to the logical conclusion that they might as well play because it’s the way things have always been done.
Whether or not that conclusion is correct, there’s no doubt that lotteries have become an integral part of the American social fabric. In virtually every state, the process for adopting a lottery has been similar: the state legislates a monopoly; establishes a state agency or public corporation to run it; begins operations with a modest number of relatively simple games; and, due to constant pressure for additional revenues, progressively expands its scope of offerings.
This expansion has been accompanied by a rise in criticism. Once a lottery is established, debate and controversy move quickly to the specifics of its operations, focusing on everything from its potential for compulsive gambling to its alleged regressive impact on low-income households.
Although the earliest recorded lotteries sold tickets for money, the concept dates back thousands of years. The earliest known examples were drawn at Saturnalian dinner parties, where guests would be given a ticket and a chance to win a variety of items, including expensive dinnerware.