Now in 1997, betting on government-run lotteries is legal. Nothing has changed as to whether or not betting is bad or sinful. What has changed is that the government gets the revenue instead of small-business people. Moreover, the states do not simply offer their product to the public. They promote hard.
Lottery advertisements are beguilingly seductive, and misleading to boot.
Our governments shamelessly pander to dreams. They advise people, many of them poor, that the lottery is a good way to get money. Something is terribly wrong. The issue is not whether betting should be legal. I happen to think it should be, if only because many people will gamble one way or another.