I’m ambivalent about gambling maybe due to my Southern Baptist roots. On the one hand, it’s occasionally fun to go to a casino and lose a lot of money and feel stupid about it. On the other hand, plenty of people have the fun and lose the money, but somehow forget the discomfort of losing hard-earned money long enough to become repeat losers customers.
If you talk to the locals in places like Shreveport, they’re quick to tell you that casino gambling is a net drain on the economy. With the exception of a few select businesses in close proximity to the casinos, it has to be an economic wash. Sure, you have the good middle-income jobs as dealers and pit bosses, but otherwise most of the money made by casinos in places like Shreveport heads right back out to New York City, Las Vegas, and Los Angeles. Very little money is left to spend in the wider local economy. Wherever there is gambling, you almost certainly do not want to live there. It saps the vitality and spirit of a place, because easy-come winnings walk hand in hand with easy-go misery. There is no way to make everyone a winner. That is the lie of gambling. If you’re wealthy, loss is the cost of doing business, if you’re poor, loss can cripple you.
The gambling industry shows it’s true colors in situations like the one described in the following article: US arrest threat to gambling executives. It describes how Lousiana police at the behest of pro-gambling politicians are trying to get Internet gambling operations to stop taking bets from users in Louisiana by threatening to issue warrants for Internet gambling executives that can be served anywhere in the United States.
Louisiana police have warned all online gambling companies to stop accepting bets in the state or risk having their executives and directors arrested if they visit the US.
The police official responsible for the arrest of Peter Dicks, former chairman of Sportingbet, on a Louisiana warrant in New York three weeks ago, said the state was pressing ahead with its clampdown, in spite of what appears to be a rethink about the case at higher political levels.
Why should Louisiana care about Internet gambling when gambling is legal in that state? Quite simply, it’s an old school turf war. The brick and mortar casinos are using their corrupt influence within Louisiana politics to put the hurt on their low-cost, efficient competitors. The state also wants to make sure they get a taste (taxes) of any gambling that goes on within their borders.
In spite of my libertarian leanings, I think gambling is essentially a scam that needs to be closely controlled. And worse, it’s a scam that perpetuates and celebrates the ethos of scamming. Casinos are selling false hopes and dreams (scam #1) and casino visitors are hungry to consume this delusion for the possibility of gain without sacrifice (scam #2), or just for relief from pain. I doubt much good can ever come from gambling, despite its cross-dressing as wholesome family entertainment.