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The Guardian view on 30 years of the national lottery: winners and losers
《卫报》对国家彩票 30 年发展的看法：赢家和输家
From the Angel of the North to the Eden Project, it has transformed the UK’s cultural landscape. But public funding for the arts is still needed
从《北方天使》到《伊甸园计划》，英国的文化面貌发生了巨大变化。但艺术领域仍需公共资金支持
Fri 22 Nov 2024 18.25 GMT
2024 年 11 月 22 日星期五 18.25 GMT
The year 1994 was a big one for British culture. Four Weddings and a Funeral smashed box-office records, Oasis’s Definitely Maybe became the fastest-selling debut album in British musical history up to then, and you could board the Eurostar for Paris. But for all the buzz of Cool Britannia, arguably the most far-reaching cultural event was the launch of the national lottery. On 19 November, 22 million people tuned in to the BBC to watch Noel Edmonds draw the first winning numbers. “It could be you!’ seemed an apt slogan for a more optimistic era.
电视1994 年是英国文化的重要一年。《四个婚礼和一个葬礼》打破了票房纪录，绿洲乐队的《绝对可能》成为当时英国音乐史上最畅销的首张专辑，你可以登上欧洲之星前往巴黎。但尽管英国人热议“酷英国”，但影响最深远的文化事件无疑是国家彩票的推出。11 月 19 日，2200 万人收看了BB??C 的节目，观看诺埃尔·埃德蒙兹抽出第一批中奖号码。“可能是你！”似乎是更乐观时代的恰当口号。
Margaret Thatcher had “disapproved” of lotteries. Set up by her successor, John Major, the national lottery has funded more than 700,000 projects across community, heritage, sport and the arts in Great Britain and Northern Ireland. This week it announced that it has raised ￡50bn “for good causes”. From Billy Elliot to the Royal Ballet, and Antony Gormley’s Angel of the North to the Eden Project in Cornwall, the national lottery has transformed the cultural landscape of the UK. Not to mention the 2012 Olympics and events such as Michael Sheen’s 72-hour performance of The Passion in his hometown, Port Talbot.
玛格丽特·撒切尔曾经“反对”彩票。国家彩票由她的继任者约翰·梅杰创立，已为英国和北爱尔兰的社区、文化遗产、体育和艺术领域 70 多万个项目提供资金。本周，国家彩票宣布已筹集500 亿英镑用于“公益事业”。从比利·艾略特到皇家芭蕾舞团，从安东尼·葛姆雷的《北方天使》到康沃尔的伊甸园计划，国家彩票改变了英国的文化面貌。更不用说2012 年奥运会和迈克尔·辛在家乡塔尔伯特港举行的72 小时《耶稣受难记》演出等活动了。
A series of such moments is captured in an exhibition of photographs by Thomas Duke to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the lottery at the National Portrait Gallery. Fifteen new heritage projects include a community hub at Tilbury, the Essex port where the Empire Windrush docked in 1948, and a Science Discovery Centre in Cheshire.
托马斯·杜克在英国国家肖像馆举办的摄影展记录了一系列这样的时刻，以纪念彩票发行 30 周年。15个新的遗产项目包括蒂尔伯里的社区中心、帝国温德拉什号 1948 年停靠的埃塞克斯港以及柴郡的科学探索中心。
Lotteries go back to the Roman empire. In England, the first state lottery was set up by Queen Elizabeth 1 in 1567, as an alternative to raising taxes, with profits to go to “reparation of the Havens and strength of the Realme”. Tickets cost a hefty 10 shillings, but along with a prize of ￡5,000, some pottery and “good linen cloth”, all participants were granted immunity from arrest, except for piracy, murder or treason.
彩票的历史可以追溯到罗马帝国。在英国，第一个国家彩票是由伊丽莎白一世于 1567 年设立的，作为提高税收的替代方案，其利润用于“赔偿海港和增强王国实力”。彩票价格高达 10 先令，但除了 5,000 英镑的奖金、一些陶器和“优质亚麻布”外，所有参与者都免于逮捕，海盗、谋杀或叛国罪除外。
Dubbed a “tax on stupidity” by Voltaire, lotteries have always had their detractors. “The Lottery, with its weekly pay-out of enormous prizes, was the one public event to which the proles paid serious attention,” George Orwell wrote in Nineteen Eighty Four. The national lottery has provoked sniffiness since 1994. As one commentator in the Art Newspaper put it in 2018, “It is seen as a benign form of play, a modest voluntary tax on the innumerate and deluded.” Is this cynical state-sponsored gambling, with preposterously long odds?
伏尔泰将彩票称为“对愚蠢的征税”，但一直以来，它都有自己的批评者。乔治·奥威尔在《一九八四》中写道：“彩票每周都会发放巨额奖金，是无产者认真关注的一项公共活动。”自 1994 年以来，国家彩票一直招致冷嘲热讽。正如《艺术报》的一位评论员在 2018 年所说，“它被视为一种良性的游戏形式，是对数学不精和受骗者的一种适度自愿的征税。”这是国家支持的玩世不恭的赌博吗？中奖几率高得离谱。
Then there are the charges that it is too London-centric and takes money from those who can least afford it to fund the pastimes of the richest. According to Arts Council England, for all the headline-grabbing, multi-million-pound redevelopments of venues including the Royal Opera House, 70% of grants are for ￡10,000 or less, and are often given to grassroots projects. One flourishing example is Bloomin’ Buds Theatre Company in Bradford, whose mission is to engage and reflect its local community.
然后有人指责它过于以伦敦为中心，从那些最无力负担的人那里拿钱来资助最富有的人的消遣。据英格兰艺术委员会称，对于包括皇家歌剧院在内的所有引人注目的、耗资数百万英镑的场馆重建项目，70% 的资助金额不超过 10,000 英镑，而且通常用于基层项目。一个成功的例子是布拉德福德的Bloomin' Buds 剧院公司，其使命是参与和反映当地社区。
The national lottery is vital to the nation’s cultural health. Yet, many of the buildings and developments that followed its launch are now in urgent need of attention. Lottery grants were intended to work in addition to public funding, not to replace it. In propping up crumbling arts infrastructure, the lottery has helped let governments off the hook. Funding for the arts should not depend on crossing our fingers.
国家彩票对国家的文化健康至关重要。然而，彩票发行后许多建筑和开发项目现在急需关注。彩票补助金旨在补充公共资金，而不是替代公共资金。在支撑摇摇欲坠的艺术基础设施方面，彩票帮助政府摆脱了困境。艺术资金不应依赖于我们的祈祷。
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