World Lottery
In a third bid to win the UK lottery licence, Camelot have unveiled plans to create a brand new world lottery that will be so big that it will overshadow even the mighty Euromillions. The "World Lottery Draw" is described in epic terms, with potentially scores of participating countries all over the globe. The aim - quite apart from helping Camelot to win the aforementioned third licence - is for the World Lottery to create "a shower of winners", by which they mean up to 100 millionaires for every draw.
don't know why, but there's something about this that feels just a tad dark. Maybe it's the fact that the term "world lottery" seems to sit so snugly alongside "world government" and "world religion". Or maybe I've just seen too many James Bond movies and can recognise the aspiration to dominate the world from a mile away. Maybe I'm just being miserable this month. Whatever the reason, the idea of participating in a worldwide lottery doesn't have me jumping for joy.
Let's be realistic about this: how much money do any of us mortals actually need in order to live a nice, enjoyable, stress free life? Sure, a million or two would be wonderful. A £10 million Euromillions win would be fantastic. But does bigger always mean better? Do any of us really need to live in a seventy bedroom mansion, or have a private jet parked in the drive? Would such extortionate wealth really make us happy, or would it simply isolate us from the rest of society in the same way that celebrities admit to feeling isolated from the non-famous?
As should be obvious from the fact that I write a lottery blog, I'm not at all averse to the idea of winning a fortune. But don't we already have enough opportunities to win life-changing amounts? We have the UK Lotto draw every Wednesday and Saturday, we have a Euromillions draw every Friday, and there are plenty of other lotteries around the world that we can play via the internet. Do we really need yet another?
Lottery operators say yes, and then they start harping on about good causes, global community and lots of other fluffy sounding stuff. But are they really interested in these things, or do they just want to make more money for themselves? In my opinion, the fact that this whole World Lottery thing was publicised just as Camelot bids for its third licence answers that question far better than I ever could.
Article Last Updated: 13/02/2007 13:03:38
