At the headquarters of the United Nations, surrounded by leaders of countries across the globe, Brazil President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva launched into a tirade about the evils of gambling.

It was an odd topic to raise at the UN’s annual September meetings, especially because this panel had been convened to debate efforts to preserve democratic norms, but Lula was too worked up to care. Gambling, he railed, was destroying the finances of countless people, especially the poorest, who are “piling up debt” to finance their vice.