Final Word from Thursday, September 14, 2017

Governments can commit immoral acts if it's in the national interest. Presidents and PMs can legally order terrorist acts, spies may use fake passports and kill people, drug-enforcement agents sometimes distribute narcotics, and governments operate otherwise illegal gambling. All it often takes is one line in a law. The Czech government has declared war on gambling, and children have been singled out for protection. It's illegal to allow them to participate in games of chance. "Participation" is defined in the gambling act as putting up an amount or stake. An "amount" is defined as any act of fulfilment that permits a person to play a game of chance. This includes buying or receiving a lottery ticket. Yet children will be allowed to receive EET receipts - and thus, by legal definition, to participate in a game of chance - just not to turn them in for prizes. To make the illegal legal, all it took was one line in the EET law: "The EET lottery is not subject to the gambling act." [Czech Republic betting lotteries online sales reporting]