Curbing Our Lottery Fever

Bravo to Neal R. Peirce for daring to challenge what is rapidly developing into a sacred cow--the state lottery (“If We Really Want to Come Up as Winners, We’d Begin to Curb Our Lottery Fever,” Op-Ed Page, May 9).

The lottery is a perversion of one foundation to our democratic ideal--the myth of the little guy, working hard, using ingenuity and rising to the heights of affluence. Our belief in Horatio Alger and all he stood for is being degraded.

Visions of winning the lottery are a subterfuge, dazzling working-class stiffs so they never question their diminishing standards of living or buying power. Meanwhile, wealthy corporate interests help themselves with both hands to “wage concessions,” “cost of living rent increases,” and get their bills paid by the middle and lower classes through creative new ways.

Isn’t it ironic that something which is illegal by law (organized gambling) has been selected as the means to fund education? Is this not almost as ridiculous as instituting state-sponsored prostitution to finance AIDS research?

JO-ANN MORGAN

Los Angeles