Why in the hell is gambling still so widely banned in this day and age? There is absolutely no justification.

It's time for liberals who bray all day about personal liberties and conservatives who bray all day about small government to stand for some principles. There has been a lot of liberalization over the past 25+ years, but gambling is one area that still remains in the dark ages. Unfortunately, North Carolina is one of the most backward states -- the lottery was luckily approved over loud yokel outcries.

I know this is not going to be a banner issue in any big campaign, but it gets my goat when religious douchebags and big government cunts come together to tell me what's good for me, as if I am too stupid to understand what gambling is.

People who hate gambling don't understand what it is -- entertainment. It's no different than people spending thousands of dollars to patronize the mediocre athletic teams of a certain college.

(It's really bad when states have some forms of gambling -- lottery/slots/track/sports/casinos/stock market -- but not all of them. Can't get more hypocritical than that. I wonder just how many politicians and anti-gambling degenerates participate in poker games and sports pools throughout the year .)

[Edited on April 12, 2007 at 10:57 PM. Reason : ]

4/12/2007 10:56:28 PM

I agree 100%

but they'd rather send in the BATF to bust a poker game and risk a shooting and blow our tax money



dumb poor people are going to blow money no matter what anyway

4/12/2007 11:11:40 PM

Yea, they're about to proclaim they were just kidding about all the persecution of gambling, smoking, drinking, transfats, nationalized healthcare, bike helmets, fireworks, and marijuana.

4/12/2007 11:13:55 PM

I think that the city should be able to zone areas for gambling and be stringent about it just to make sure that there isn't a dice hall on every corner in the ghetto via blanket legalization.

4/12/2007 11:16:39 PM

I really want to meet these people who are against gambling and ask them to try to justify their stance. I can never find someone who will own up to such a stupid position, though.


[Edited on April 12, 2007 at 11:23 PM. Reason : ^yay zoning ]

4/12/2007 11:22:20 PM

According to politicians, gambling is such a corrupting influence that only the state can corrupt us (for the children of course).

The gov't should get out of the gambling business. Gambling should be a legal activity. Grown-ups should be able to spend their money as they please.

The edumacation lottery is proving itself to be another sad example of the mistaken belief that gov't is the answer to all problems.

Quote :

"I dreamed last night I got on the boat to heaven And by some chance I had brought my dice along And there I stood And I hollered "Someone fade me" But the passengers, they knew right from wrong. For the people all said sit down, ...sit down, you're rockin' the boat And the devil will drag you under By the sharp lapel of your checkered coat, Sit down, sit down, Sit down you're rockin' the boat."

4/12/2007 11:29:54 PM

Quote :

"gambling is such a corrupting influence that only the state can corrupt us"

taking the position of one side and giving it to another doesnt make it true. the people who think its corrupt dont want the state involved. the people who want the state involved dont think it is corrupt.

4/12/2007 11:31:33 PM

^
Doesn't matter to me if you gamble or not. I just don't want the state producing it.

The thing is, the policitians admit that gambling is bad. That's why it's been outlawed all these years...until they needed more money...then it's Ok. They voted in the lottery to make money.

But if I want to make some money too by building a casino, well that's not allowed.

4/12/2007 11:39:59 PM

Let's try to be big boys and not spin it as the faceless politicians' fault -- it's the fault of the large chunk of spineless citizens who tell politicians that they don't want gambling.

Opposition to the North Carolina lottery (and to all the other forms of gambling) comes from the grassroots -- the citizens of this faux conservative state who want to tell everyone what to do.

Pretending that it's not the citizens' fault is just a form of limp-wristed political correctness.

If the average citizen is not called out, they will sit back confidently while their representatives uphold the status quo. They win by default. Shrill, broadly-aimed, outside criticism of politicians is the tool of fools.

[Edited on April 12, 2007 at 11:59 PM. Reason : ;']

4/12/2007 11:43:33 PM

Just the government doing what it usually does by stepping in and prevent something for the masses simply because a smaller portion of the population can't control their impulses.

4/13/2007 12:22:00 AM

Quote :

"Just the government sanctimonious, hypocritical neighbors doing what [they] usually [do] by stepping in and prevent something for the masses simply because a smaller portion of the population can't control their impulses."

Fixed

[Edited on April 13, 2007 at 12:44 AM. Reason : sdf]

4/13/2007 12:44:30 AM

It's not necessarily the gambling itself. It's what gambling draws in.

Gambling brings out odd behaviors from people. People ruin themsevels financially because they can't stop.

Gambling brings in particular venues and services people want. Go to The Doll House... then look at every single casino. Same thing, less boobage view. It's flashy, gaudy and it attacks a lot of bad crowds.

Crime goes up
Prostitution goes up
Debt goes up

etc etc

There's plenty of articles on google for you to find why gambling is bad for a society while good for an economy.

4/13/2007 7:18:18 AM

Quote :

"There has been a lot of liberalization over the past 25+ years"

.

Gotta argue this.

Gun control - more regulation
Marijuana - more regulation/war on drugs
Smoking - can't smoke anywhere now (I won't complain as a nonsmoker, but a regulation of a personal freedom nonetheless)
Alcohol - drinking age to 21 from 18, stricter laws for underage drinking

Gambling has actually expanded if anything, there are casinos everywhere (New Orleans, indian reservations) and NC even got a lottery.

4/13/2007 7:24:13 AM

Quote :

"the lottery was luckily approved over loud yokel outcries"

Thanks for the sweeping generalization about those (including myself) who were and are against the lottery.

4/13/2007 7:57:10 AM

The recent Unlawful Internet Gambling and Enforcement Act prohibits banks from processing transactions for online gambling operations, but makes special exceptions of "fantasy" sports, online lotteries, and horse/harness racing.

This has nothing to do with gambling being a "corrupting influence" and everything to do with the government prohibiting gambling where they can't get a piece of the revenue.

/thread

The poker industry should have lobbied the government for regulation before this happened, now it will be hard as hell to reverse because these things aren't mainstream enough for politicians to want to take a stand against it.

4/13/2007 8:51:03 AM

The thing I hate about internet gambling when they comprehensively banned it a few months ago (Jon Kyl, Republican Senator from Arizona) is that they did not do it for all internet gambling. Who not for? Horse racing, cause the National Thoroughbred Racing Association gives a ton of lobbying money to Congress and the ban does not apply to them.

[Edited on April 13, 2007 at 8:52 AM. Reason : .]

4/13/2007 8:51:46 AM

^ Which is going to get the law struck down, since the law is clearly treating foreign firms, which tend not to be horse racing, differently from domestic firms, which are nowadays.

The law is a violation of WTO rules and the U.S. is going to have to repeal the law or face retaliation.

4/13/2007 10:26:03 AM

^
That's a great point.

We should try to minimize those situations where gov't can be influenced by special interests. The less control it has over us reduces this temptation.

Quote :

"sanctimonious, hypocritical neighbors "

Yes ... the gov't we've got is the result of poor voting practices. That's pretty much a given.

Quote :

"gambling is bad for a society while good for an economy."

You know what else is bad for society? Corrupt politicians who have been given the power to regulate gambling. Another thing that's bad for society is gov't sucking the fun out of life in the name of protecting everyone.

People gamble everyday to make more money. Farming is one of the biggest gambles there is. any entrepreneur who risks his money on a new idea is gambling. Stock investors never call for the shutdown of Wall Street when commodities crimes are committed. If some guys want to play poker for money, how is it hurting you?

4/13/2007 10:26:20 AM

Quote :

"gambling is bad for a society while good for an economy."

Any action can be bad for society if people have trouble controlling themselves. Hell credit cards are bad for society if the people using them don't know how to properly use them. Same with cars, guns, junk food, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, etc. You can't legislate to save people from themselves though.

4/13/2007 12:15:39 PM

because it takes you away from god, like prostitution and marijuana

4/13/2007 12:37:35 PM

Quote :

"Any action can be bad for society if people have trouble controlling themselves. Hell credit cards are bad for society if the people using them don't know how to properly use them. Same with cars, guns, junk food, alcohol, tobacco, drugs, etc. You can't legislate to save people from themselves though."

Funny thing. There are laws that regulate each and every thing you just mentioned.

Quote :

"People who hate gambling don't understand what it is -- entertainment. It's no different than people spending thousands of dollars to patronize the mediocre athletic teams of a certain college."

I suppose. Then again I don't hear any commercials advertising hotlines for people with "sports events attendance" problems.

Quote :

"Let's try to be big boys and not spin it as the faceless politicians' fault -- it's the fault of the large chunk of spineless citizens who tell politicians that they don't want gambling."

If the citizens are standing up and telling the politicians they don't want gambling I wouldn't lump them in the "spineless" category. Sounds like they are at least fighting for what they believe in.

[Edited on April 13, 2007 at 12:59 PM. Reason : -no two]

4/13/2007 12:57:19 PM

Quote :

"Funny thing. There are laws that regulate each and every thing you just mentioned."

I never said you couldn't regulate them. I said:

Quote :

"You can't legislate to save people from themselves though."

My point being, regulation will help the majority of the people honest, but those who will have a problem with gambling will more than likely have a problem no matter what. These are the people who don't have money for rent or their kid's clothes because they lost it gambling.

We regulate the ability to drive cars, but there are still drunk drivers and speeders. We regulate the consumption of alcohol but there are still drunks.

4/13/2007 5:42:09 PM

Quote :

" If some guys want to play poker for money "

Ugh, I get so tired of having to clarify this, but...

Playing poker for money isn't illegal.

Selling and distributing copious amounts of alcohol is illegal.

Possessing drugs is illegal.

Tax evasion is illegal.

Running illegal businesses is illegal.




P.S. Have you ever been to Vegas or Atlantic City? Do you really want to make the argument that gambling isn't bad for society? Look at those shitholes. I'd rather take shots of absinthe every morning then wake up in one of those two cities.

The only good thing that comes from beach towns and gambling zones is that it takes all the IDIOTS out of normal society and relocates them to a concentrated area.



[Edited on April 13, 2007 at 6:00 PM. Reason : a]

4/13/2007 5:55:05 PM

gambling is the reason things like march madness, the nfl, college football, etc are the multibillion dollar industries that they are today

4/13/2007 5:55:53 PM

Gambling is widely banned because the gov't wants to have a monopoly on it (read: lotteries, etc). Period, end of story.

Quote :

"the lottery was luckily approved over loud yokel outcries. "

Once again, thanks for lumping us all into the same category. Unfortunately, as much as you decry politicians who don't listen to their constituents, you neglect the fact that NC consistently voted against the lottery every time the issue came up. So, what did the politicians do? They ignored the citizens and did what they wanted to do anyway.

There are plenty of good, non-yokel reasons to oppose the lottery. I opposed it specifically because it was advertised as an education lottery. I knew that the schools would ultimately get screwed by it, and I also knew that the politicians were lying and that the money wouldn't actually go to the schools. To make it worse, the politicians broke the law in passing the lottery, lied to the citizens and legislatures, and then ignored NC law, all in order to create a lottery that NC citizens didn't want.

4/14/2007 1:03:56 AM

Quote :

"I suppose. Then again I don't hear any commercials advertising hotlines for people with "sports events attendance" problems."

Because nobody thinks "sports event addiction" is wrong. Some people attend every game with season tickets, spend large amounts of money on expensive seats, RV's, team apparel etc. but nobody thinks they need help. Gamble away that money and people say you have a problem. Playing a game for money when the odds are arranged in favour of the house is stupid to me. But people should spend their money on whatever they enjoy.

4/14/2007 1:18:22 AM