Gambling should be banned

[LesCanadiens]

I hate gambling. My hometown has become the "gambling capital" of BC, with shiny new casinos dotting the waterfront. And I hate them. They're a blight on my hometown and all of society. Sure, they look sexy, but that's about the limit of the benefits they confer upon us.

Gambling offers no social benefits whatsoever. It destroys lives, families, and offers nothing in return. It's nothing but a way for the rich to literally steal from the working classes, except gambling is a lot less subtle than their preferred methods.

There are economic benefits, sure, but not everyone benefits economically from casinos. Those that own and control the casinos, invariably members of the ruling class, benefit, as does the government (also ruling class). No average person benefits economically from losing money. And certainly those that become addicted to gambling and piss away their life savings at the craps tables don't benefit from gambling.

Ban gambling. Run the casinos out of your town. Shut down Nevada.

Agree y/n?

 

[CaptainF]

Ehhhh.....no.

 

[Bill3000]

Gambling offers no social benefits whatsoever. It destroys lives, families, and offers nothing in return. It's nothing but a way for the rich to literally steal from the working classes, except gambling is a lot less subtle than their preferred methods.

Yeah, like smoking.

 

[caketastydelish]

If you make the responsible choice to not gamble yourself such as I, (and you from what you said) then it is not your problem. Therefore, it does not hurt you. So if other people want to screw up there lives, that is up to them and no one else. You can just ban everything just because it "screws people's lives". If so we'd have to ban alcohol, video games, and a bunch of other stuff...

 

[LesCanadiens]

Ehhhh.....no.

Thank you for offering us your thoughtful commentary. We need more users like you who give thoughtful, well-elaborated reasons for their opinions, and less users who just offer one-liners and waste valuable bandwith.

 

[Shekwan]

But some people find gambling fun. Thats a benefit for them.

Oh and is it true theres no bookies in the States apart from in Nevada? Somebody told me this and I couldn't believe it.

 

[emzie]

Depends on the type of gambling. Games that are purely chance: slots, scratch tickets, roulette ect ect can be seen as a tax on those who are bad at math. A game like poker is quite different in my eyes. However, for entertainment value, I think casinos have some merit.

I'd support greater regulation, if I could think of a way to do it anyway.

But some people find gambling fun. Thats a benefit for them.

Oh and is it true theres no bookies in the States apart from in Nevada? Somebody told me this and I couldn't believe it.

Of course there are. They're just not doing something legal for the most part.

Gambling is legal all over the US, but you might have to go out of your way: Nevada and New Jersey have casinos, other states have "riverboat casinos" which in actuality are buildings built over water with a line drawn in the floor that marks where the shore is, a lot of states allow slots at horse / dog tracks. Not to mention Native American Reservations. The Catholic school I went to would have card tables in the basement during fairs with a cop overseeing the gambling.

 

[LesCanadiens]

If you make the responsible choice to not gamble yourself such as I, (and you from what you said) then it is not your problem. Therefore, it does not hurt you. So if other people want to screw up there lives, that is up to them and no one else. You can just ban everything just because it "screws people's lives". If so we'd have to ban alcohol, video games, and a bunch of other stuff...

Right but a serial killer isn't my problem so long as I'm not the one being chopped up into little pieces and buried inside the guy's crawlspace. I'm sick and tired of people offering up "it doesn't affect you so it's not your problem" as an excuse for tolerating social evils. If everyone operated on that philosophy, nothing would be illegal, and society would not function. Face it, folks, no matter where you live there will always be limits on what you can do.

I'd advise you to move to Somalia where you really can do whatever you want provided you have a big enough gun.

 

[civ_king]

My uncle makes 100,000 a year Gambling, then again he can calculate probability very well and has various math degrees, but yes i agree in banning gambling

 

[Bill3000]

Right but a serial killer isn't my problem so long as I'm not the one being chopped up into little pieces and buried inside the guy's crawlspace. I'm sick and tired of people offering up "it doesn't affect you so it's not your problem" as an excuse for tolerating social evils. If everyone operated on that philosophy, nothing would be illegal, and society would not function. Face it, folks, no matter where you live there will always be limits on what you can do.

I'd advise you to move to Somalia where you really can do whatever you want provided you have a big enough gun.

Right. So go move to Somalia where you will be able to smoke. We'll go ahead and ban it here in the West with the rest of the social evils.

 

[Mowque]

As long as they pay taxes, i support it. less i have to pay.. . Although in my state (PA) the new casino tax seems to be wasted...

 

[emzie]

My uncle makes 100,000 a year Gambling, then again he can calculate probability very well and has various math degrees, but yes i agree in banning gambling

For him to make 100,000 someone, or someones, lost 100,000. And it wasn't the casino.

 

[Sui Generis]

No, the economies of many areas would be destroyed if we banned gambling.

 

[silver 2039]

No. There's nothing wrong with gambling. It brings in good income. Make it illegal and it goes underground and then you need a "War on Gambling" yay! another useless insignificant cause for the police to waste their time on. And guess who'll pay for it? The tax payer.

 

[LesCanadiens]

No. There's nothing wrong with gambling. It brings in good income. Make it illegal and it goes underground and then you need a "War on Gambling" yay! another useless insignificant cause for the police to waste their time on. And guess who'll pay for it? The tax payer.

No, it doesn't. People lose money off gambling. And yes, there is everything wrong with gambling. Are you the kind of person who doesn't bother reading posts, only topic lines?

 

[Mad Man]

No gambling shouldn't be banned. I voted for it in the last elections.

 

[Elta]

Look at my location

I should add that I have never gambled, locals never do

 

[slothman]

For him to make 100,000 someone, or someones, lost 100,000. And it wasn't the casino.

If not the casino then who?

 

[potatokiosk]

Gambling is a form of entertainment, and I don't see anything wrong with people spending money on entertainment. Spending money in a way that makes oneself happy and harms no one else is fine with me.

 

[silver 2039]

No, it doesn't. People lose money off gambling. And yes, there is everything wrong with gambling. Are you the kind of person who doesn't bother reading posts, only topic lines?

No I'm the type of person who know's you're wrong. You can repeat the same thing as many times as you want but you won't be anymore right than before.