The lottery is a popular gambling activity that draws people with the hope of winning large sums of money. The Bible condemns coveting, especially of money and the things that it can buy: “You shall not covet your neighbour’s house, his wife, his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that is his” (Exodus 20:17). Those who play the lottery often find themselves with nothing but a lot of debts and problems.
Typically, state lotteries are established by legislatures and run by public corporations or government agencies. In many cases, public pressures and the need to generate revenue cause these lotteries to systematically expand, adding games over time, and putting greater emphasis on advertising and promotion. In fact, lotteries are classic examples of piecemeal and incremental policymaking, with little or no overview of the overall public welfare.
When state lotteries first started, their initial revenues quickly grew, but then began to plateau or even decline. This, along with a growing sense of boredom, prompted the constant introduction of new games in an attempt to maintain or increase revenues. These innovations were based on the assumption that lottery players are always looking for a quick fix, something to make life better again. In reality, lottery players are largely middle-class and lower-income, and they play less as their incomes decrease. In fact, studies show that the poor play lotteries disproportionately less than their percentage of the population. Yet they continue to believe that the lottery is their last, best, or only chance of breaking out of poverty.
