For all of France's avowed devotion to social justice, I'm always surprised by the kinds of regressivism that dots the society. My favorite example, which I was reminded of yesterday when I went by the local tabac to get some take away coffee (destined to be drunk with a pavé chocolat, a sort of multilayered chocolated cake flavored with apricot jam and liqueur, and topped with shaved chocolate) is the French loto (i.e, the national lottery).

You might expect the loto to cost a buck or so, and even then there are complaints in the US about how it tempts to poor. But have you ever considered a lottery ticket that costs 128 dollars? If you live in France, it's not just a consideration but reality - if you buy a ticket where you can choose 10 numbers for the 7 number drawing (that is, you give yourself an opportunity to miss up to three numbers and still win), you pay the equivalent of about 150 dollars. And with a country where even my lawyerly contemporaries are earning only a little more than the prevailing average wage of about two thousand euros a month, how easily could such temptation ruin someone's life. After all, with the extra numbers available, and with the high price tag associated with the ticket, it takes on the semblance of a serious investment, no matter what the math says.

Of course, I suppose you can just buy 150 tickets back at home, and it would be just as bad. But it's still a little startling to see that kind of number on a lottery ticket.