Dear Sir/Madam,

As if Who Wants to be a Millionaire? were not insane enough, now we can look forward to Who Wants to be a Billionaire?  (Coming soon: Who wants to be a billionaire?, 11 February 2003)

There are many insane things in the world, I know, so why should I get worked up about this particular one? After all, it will entertain a lot of people, make a lot of money for a few more, and make one person, at least, very rich. Where's the harm in that?

The harm is that it completely undermines the already shaky moral foundations on which our society is based.

One of the most important principles of society's moral foundations is surely that all its members should make a positive contribution to it in return for all the things they take from it. 

Not withstanding the fact that this principle is far from being fully realised in existing society, history shows, I think, that western democracies have been moving towards it.

This principle is completely contradicted by the idea that it is okay or someone to win, rather than earn, the money to buy what they need or want from society, not just for a few days or weeks, or perhaps even for a year (I have no problem with that), but for their whole life.

1 million pounds is about (probably rather more) than an average life earnings, for which a nurse, a fireman, a policeman and a host of other essential workers would have to work 40 years or more! 

That someone can "win" that amount of money makes a mockery of what normal, hardworking folk spend all of their lives doing earning an honest living. The sad thing is that the vast majority of them have no problem with it and are in fact the ones who make it possible - by playing the lottery and watching Who Wants to be a Millionaire?