Rock, thank you for reminding me of Powers, a favourite of my mother. You can read Farewell at the online New Yorker in their fiction archive. A gem to be sure. What we do without New Yorker fiction. I was reading about the new bio of Shirley Jackson and thinking of the storm The Lottery touched off when first published . . . a tale with modern application to be sure. 
http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/1973/08/06/farewell-9