I agree with you on the lottery, the world would be better off without it. The problem in this case is that it's also entertainment, and people will pursue it whether it's legal or not because they want to gamble. In this case if we have to have it, I'd rather have the government run it than a for-profit company.

Herbalife (and other MLM) are just straight fraud. Pyramid schemes are illegal in most countries, but companies like Herbalife manage to squeak by. My guess would be it's because of money, but really I have no idea how they get away with it.