The bad wrap gambling has got concerns me. Gambling ha snot got a fair shake. Gambling is still for the most associated with organized crime, addiction and to an extent robbing the poor by the general public.
There is a bit of truth to each claim. I am sure that organized crime is probably still involved in gambling but not to the extent that most believe. Gambling for the most part has become an industry dominated by large corporations and government. The largest organized crime outfit active in gambling today is probably the government itself. Just because the mob was involved initially in gambling in Las Vegas does not mean that this is case for the rest of the world.
The second stigma behind gambling's bad wrap is the mistaken belief that the industry is wrought with addiction. I will not argue that gambling is not addictive. We all know that it is. I have seen the addiction with my own eyes. The addiction itself is bad, but not gambling. Where's the distinction? The distinction is as such gambling itself is a friendly wager, a lottery ticket or an outing to the local casino. Gambling is an everyday occurrence. Addiction is going over the edge. Addiction is a person who needs to gamble and cannot stop. This happens on occasion, it's a sad thing but there are addictions to other things that people would not say are all together bad. There's an addiction to work or a workaholic. Who's going to argue that work is bad? There's and addiction to painkillers. I know, I know, poor analogy but it's hard to argue that painkillers are bad. Who hasn't taken a painkiller? There are other things that people get addicted to that are not necessarily bad. Why should gambling get stuck with a label when these others would not?
The third reason gambling is considered to be bad is because it is believed that gambling targets the poor, a largely held misconception. What a joke. The poor do not gamble enough to be the main targets. They neither have the money nor the means foe an industry to profit by targeting them. Gambling targets the middle class, targets in the marketing sense. That's where the money is. The multi-millionaires just don't frequent enough casinos to make them a viable target market. Listen, I agree the poor have the most to lose but no one is forcing them to go. We live in a free society, where free choice reigns. People from casinos do not go around tossing the poor into buses and forcing them to gamble. They gamble because they choose to. They take a risk at a get rich quick scheme. In the end that's what gambling is. Gambling offers the potential for anyone willing to take the risk to make some easy money. It is the stock market with worse odds. Although that's not necessarily true at the time I'm writing this. A smart gambler can make money at gambling. If people choose to spend their money in a casino, why stop them.
There are positives to gambling. Casinos provide jobs. I know many students who put themselves through work by dealing in a casino. Many don't realize this but dealing in a casino pays pretty well. There is also the issue of the large amounts of money governments and charities make from casinos. In Vancouver, Canada the municipal government gets $5 million a year from casinos. I don't the amount the provincial government gets but I can tell you that charities receive in the neighborhood of $125 million and the provincial government gets approximately 6 times that. That is money that is invaluable to the government especially at a time when the economy in BC is sluggish at best.
Finally, it is necessary to remember that gambling is like most things in life, it must be taken in moderation. Anything done to an extreme is not good. Gambling has its ills but lets not persecute it on those ills without considering the positives. Gambling has got a bad wrap because this has not been done. The positives are not considered and both sides are not weighed. This would not be acceptable in respect to other issues and gambling is no different. Even so, my money is on gambling staying around regardless of whether it gets a fair shake and I would not bet on that fair shake happening anytime soon. The people who criticize gambling have fixed the game more then any casino ever could.
By Doran Libon
