David Brooks - The Great Seduction by Debt (NYT)

"A household with income under $13,000 spends, on average, $645 a year on lottery tickets, about 9 percent of all income. Aside from the financial toll, the moral toll is comprehensive. Here is the government, the guardian of order, telling people that they don't have to work to build for the future. They can strike it rich for nothing."

David Brooks - The Great Seduction by Debt - NYTimes.com

(At the same time the government is doing this, they're criticizing housing lenders for encouraging people to gamble on rising housing prices continuing to ascend. I'm not a fan of the subprime lenders, but at least the odds there were a little better than the lottery.)