in the last decades, the development of market oriented economy has brought a large number of newly emerging things into our daily life.
yet when it comes to one of these new things lottery, welfare lottery in particular, some people believe that it creates a good social atmosphere while others argue that the opposite is true. there is probably a little bit of truth in both statements. but in recent years, lottery has done a lot to support the view that it does more good than harm.
on one hand, welfare lottery encourages people to do small kindness for the welfare of others as well as for the profit of oneself. when we read the daily newspapers, we are frequently appraised of the "big kindness" performed by well-to-do philanthropists who donate large sums of money for the establishment of schools, libraries, free hospitals for the poor, orphanages,and the like.
these, of course, are laudable acts of charity that deserve wide public acclaim. but in my estimation, not all the people have the financial ability to support these "big kindness",and those many minor acts of kindness performed daily in different situations by public minded citizens who receive no recognition or praise from the mass media are equally commendable.similarly, welfare lottery provide the majority of people a chance to perform this kind of small kindness.
on the other hand, in a large city like shanghai, where the general tendency of the people is "to look out only for one"s own", the atmosphere is cold and miserable for those unable to keep up with the rapid pace of competitions. by launching a personal campaign such as welfare lottery, we can try to remedy the present situation and to make our society a much better place to live in.
however, every coin has two sides. lottery, inevitably,has some side effects. as to the general criticism that it encourages some people"s opportunistic attitudes and makes them unwilling to make a living by finding a job, i believe that the tax system in our society will keep the necessary balance between the poor and the rich, thus maintains the stability and unity of our country.
recognition of a problem is the first step toward its solution. since we are now generally aware of the advantages and disadvantages of lottery, it seems necessary that we improve this scheme to meet the public needs. if we are to succeed as a society in 21st century, a better society atmosphere should be created.