By Michaela Gordoni
Gambling carries more harm than addiction and your own betting losses — the government makes you pay, whether you win or lose.
“The time has come where it [gambling] needs to be in your top five issues,” said Les Bernal, the national director for Stop Predatory Gambling. He says gambling is “America’s most neglected major problem.”
Gambling used to be highly restricted. Then in 2018, the Supreme Court ruled that states could essentially regulate their own gambling programs. Since then, politicians and states have used gambling for their gain, NRB reported this week.
For example, Texas Democratic state representative James Talarico, who built a reputation on progressive Christian values, accepted $59,000 from a casino-backed PAC, and supports the expansion of legal gambling.
There’s a difference between predatory gambling and social betting.
“Predatory gambling is the ultimate big government program. I mean, it’s only legal if you partner with the state,” Bernal said.
Related: Teen Gambling Increases As More States Legalize Sports Betting
“What else do we advertise to the American people? Almost nothing,” he adds. “The marketing and advertising of commercialized gambling today…that is the public voice of American government to most citizens.”
It’s a business that isn’t in the consumer’s favor. It’s impossible for it to. Bernal says its financial fraud.
When state and casino operators shake hands, it’s not in anyone’s interest but theirs. Gone are the days citizens are encouraged to invest in savings bonds — now it’s the illusion of instant riches.
When gambling increases, so does societal decay: domestic violence, divorce rates, debt, substance abuse, mental illness.
Studies have found that gambling has “the highest suicide rate of any addiction disorder.” One in five gambling addict patients attempt suicide.
“You, the taxpayer, are picking up the tab for all of the incredible financial and social harms that this industry leaves in its wake,” Bernal said.
When downfall occurs due to gambling, taxpayers pay for their subsidies, food stamps and unpaid medical bills.
Yet, politicians from both parties say gambling is a good thing for society, promising lower taxes and education funds. It’s ridiculous.
“This is a symbol of the breakdown of America,” Bernal said. “We need to get state governments out of the gambling business and back on the side of the American people.”
WSJ writer and college student Eli Thompson said he’s seen the downfall of several friends due to gambling. He wrote, “One guy who used to be the life of our group chat went quiet as he got caught up in tracking his bets. Others struggle with academic classes, staying up late glued to the apps and skipping homework.”
Malcolm Sparrow, professor of the practice of public management at Harvard’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, advocates strongly that gambling is bad for society.
“We suspect up to 50 percent of gamblers suffer some degree of harm and regret, and a much broader definition say it’s having an adverse effect on their life, and they’ve tried to stop but can’t,” Sparrow said. “Now that’s not enough to get you designated as a problem gambler, but it still means it’s having a lasting detrimental effect in one dimension of life or another.”
Whether it’s happening in a casino or in your own room, gambling doesn’t help anyone or anything. It shouldn’t persist.
Read Next: America’s Gambling Crisis Escalates: ‘No Guardrails’
Questions or comments? Please write to us here.
– Content: +3Share:
– Content: +2