Went to the newsagents today and saw lots of people queueing up to by lottery tickets and it got me thinking how there is something about it that makes me feel uncomfortable.
Firstly it always seems to be the people who have the least money who get the tickets. They have such a low chance of winning it's really sad to see them waste their money. Imagine if they saved £2 per week instead of spending it on tickets for the last 20 years then they would have a nice nest egg of over £2k by now which would make a real difference to some people. I really don't like the fact that people are encouraged to part with their money like this.
Secondly I think the large prizes (I saw one for 180million) are obscene. Does anyone really need 180 million I doubt it makes people happy. Why not cap the prizes at 1 million? This is more that enough to be life changing for someone. If any rolls over then why not just give it back to the charity?
I know it provides valuable funds for charity but it just seems like it preys on vulnerable people to do so.