Gambling And Casinos Should Be Banned

To gamble is irrational and reckless. There may be the possibility of winning a big prize, but the overwhelming likelihood is that a gambler will lose money. Casinos calculate their odds so that they will always make a profit. Gambling attracts people with little money who are desperate for a windfall. These are the people who can least afford to lose money. They should be protected from the temptation to gamble. Gambling should be banned, or at least very tightly controlled.

Gambling is addictive. Many people end up gambling to try to recover money they have already lost. This is known as ‘chasing losses’. It results in people staking more and more money, most of which they will lose. Gambling addicts often turn to crime to feed their addiction. Addiction is highly damaging to families, since gamblers will spend whatever money they can on gambling. People start to gamble without thinking that they will become addicted. Once they become addicted, it is too late. As with drugs, it is better to ban gambling to stop people getting started in the first place.

Gambling promotes unhealthy values. It makes people concentrate of winning money. This implies that they should value material goods above other things like friendships and families. It also sends out the message that success should not necessarily be the result of merit and effort. Instead, governments should promote values like thrift, hard work and self-reliance.

Casinos are often associated with criminal activity. Drug dealers and prostitutes operate near casinos – they know that there are a large number of potential clients in the area. Casinos can therefore be devastating to neighbourhoods.

The economic benefits of casinos are exaggerated. They generally only create low-paid jobs for local people – the casino companies usually bring in managers from elsewhere. There is still considerable unemployment and poverty in places like Atlantic City. The problems associated with casinos (e.g. crime, gambling addiction) outweigh the economic benefits. In any case, an immoral industry is not justified by the fact that it creates employment. Jobs could be created through many other industries that cause fewer moral and practical problems (e.g. theme parks).

It is immoral for the state or charities to raise money by exploiting people’s stupidity and greed. Taxing gambling is a regressive tax (this means that the poor pay a greater proportion of their income in tax than the rich). This is because poor people are more likely to gamble. Regressive taxation is deeply unfair.

Internet gambling is especially dangerous. Someone can become addicted very easily – they don’t even need to leave their home. This also means that they are gambling in private. They may therefore be less reluctant to wager very large sums they cannot afford. It is very hard to know the identity of an online gambler – there have been several cases of people (including children) using stolen credit cards to gamble online.

Online gambling may be hard to control but that is not a reason to try – making an activity more difficult to pursue will still reduce the number of those who take it up. It is not impossible to put effective deterrent steps in place, such as the recent US ban on American banks processing credit card payments to internet gambling sites.