This two part video will surely make you think.
Here is a link to this classic short story, if you rather read it.
http://www.classicshorts.com/stories/lotry.html
As I was reading the comments at youtube, it seems this is mandatory reading in some schools now.
"The Lottery" is a short story by Shirley Jackson, first published in the June 26, 1948 issue of The New Yorker. [ 1 ]
The magazine and Jackson herself were surprised by the highly negative reader response. Many readers cancelled their subscriptions, and hate mail continued to arrive throughout the summer. In the Union of South Africa the story was banned. [citation needed] Since then, it has been accepted as a classic American short story, subject to many critical interpretations and media adaptations.
Plot summary
The story contrasts commonplace details of contemporary with a barbaric ritual known as the "lottery." The setting is a small American town (population of approximately 300 and growing) where the locals display a strange and somber mood, from which unusual things can evidently be observed, like children gathering stones, as they assemble June 27 for their annual lottery. After the head of each family draws a small piece of paper, one slip with a black spot indicates the Hutchinson family has been chosen. When each member of that family draws again to see which family member "wins," ...............................................