Over here in the UK the National Lottery is state-franchised and was established in 1994. I actually remember it being a pretty big deal at the time when it was established, nothing like it really existed beforehand.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Lottery_(United_Kingdom)
I'm quite interested in marxist analysis of the implementation of this kind of thing by a state, and the effect it has on the population. Does that kind of thing exist? What are the thoughts here?
Marx called gamblers lumpenproletariat
So a basic analysis of the state running lotteries would probably be that it's a tactic to dissuade people from organizing around class interests as they have a chance to become rich
Yeah this is why I was interested in whether there was anything that goes into it deeper than surface level. In every single small store, every single petrol station, outside every corner shop, you have these advertisements for the lottery literally everywhere. From a young age this normalises the pursuit of being filthy rich, and it functions as propaganda that reinforces it to the population literally everywhere they go .
With the number of games that are occurring too it reinforces the idea that people have more social mobility than they do, because " all our games change lives ", don't get me started on how predatory that sales line is.
I do think there's a difference between a "gambler" that Marx called lumpen vs the average working class person who does the lottery once or twice a week though.
Honestly this is probably the biggest point. The only people I see play the lottery are those who have been convinced that the current state of economy is 'necessary', and thus it comforts them to think they might one day get to be rich.