According to the BBC, the French government, discontent with funding its aid budget through ol' fashioned taxation, is considering implementing a lottery to raise funds for aid. Wouldn't Peter Singer be proud?
Apparently it's already been tried in the UK. Not too get too picky, but while lotteries are rather effective at raising money, aren't they primarily played by the poorest of a society? While a transfer of resources from the mostly rich to the extreme poor through progressive taxation is somewhat justifiable, how do we feel about making that transfer from the (relative) poor to the (absolute) poor, even if that transfer is voluntary?
I can already see the television screens now: "Joan Smith won £30m through the LDC Lottery! But the real winners... are the children."
2 Comments
Makes sense to me. Is it better that lottery money goes on new swimming pools in Britain?