Summary
Should we use chance to solve some of our most difficult political dilemmas? From US Green Cards to school place allocation, lotteries have been widely used as a means of fairly resolving apparently intractable problems. Jo Fidgen asks whether the time has come to consider whether more of society's problems might be solved by the luck of the draw.
Producer: Leo Hornak.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Just before this BBC podcast gets underway, here's something you may not know. |
| 0:04.7 | My name's Linda Davies and I Commission Podcasts for BBC Sounds. |
| 0:08.5 | As you'd expect, at the BBC we make podcasts of the very highest quality featuring the most knowledgeable experts and genuinely engaging voices. |
| 0:18.0 | What you may not know is that the BBC makes podcasts about all kinds of things like pop stars, |
| 0:24.6 | poltergeist, cricket, and conspiracy theories and that's just a few examples. |
| 0:29.7 | If you'd like to discover something a little bit unexpected, find your next podcast over at BBC Sounds. |
| 0:36.0 | Thank you for downloading Analysis from the BBC. |
| 0:40.0 | For over 40 years, Analysis has been examining the ideas and forces which shape public policy in Britain and abroad. |
| 0:48.0 | This week Joe Fijon asks whether we should use chance to resolve some of our most difficult political dilemmas in life by lottery. Picture the scene, |
| 1:05.0 | scene, an internet cafe in Nairobi on a crisp May morning last year. |
| 1:10.0 | The place is packed, everyone's on edge. |
| 1:13.0 | Abdinaur, a young refugee from Somalia, is there with a group of friends, |
| 1:17.0 | hoping that at the click of a mouse, one of them will win the chance of a lifetime. |
| 1:23.8 | So it came to my turn. |
| 1:25.8 | I was sitting there on the chair looking on the screen. |
| 1:30.0 | I couldn't turn around. |
| 1:31.9 | I was like, whoa, I told myself what if you want I put my confirmation number right there I've put my |
| 1:38.5 | last name the date of birth and submit. I couldn't believe what I saw there. Oh my God you have been |
| 1:50.1 | randomly selected for father processing. My friends could not wait because they just lifted |
| 1:57.0 | me up, pushed me through to the sides, you know, in the mood of chupilation. And I couldn't believe myself. I couldn't believe it. |
| 2:05.0 | Oh my God. I was so happy. |
| 2:08.0 | And your friends were excited even though they had not one? |
... |
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