Out-of-Touch Politicos Defy Public
By Supporting Anti-Gaming Legislation
by William Foote
Saturday 26th of July 2003
I just finished reading a very interesting article. It will actually be featured in ESPN the Magazine’s August 4th issue. It is entitled Betting Nation and chronicles the shear enormity and popularity of sports betting in America. One part of the article states, “The raw numbers are big. Really big. Half of Americans aged 16 and older have placed a bet on sports in the past 12 months.”
Another goes on to say, “Despite the weak economy, 78% of sports gamblers say they've increased their betting or kept it at the same level compared with last year.” And still another says, “Estimates for the overall amount bet on sports were as high as $380 billion a year, nearly as high as the U.S. Defense budget.” The study called sports betting “the most widespread and popular form of gambling in America."
My question is this; when will these myopic jerks in Washington realize they cannot control gambling with legislation. Gambling is human nature. In some form or another, gaming is prevalent in every corner of the world and can be traced all the way back to the caveman days. And the ironic part is that it is completely legal and acceptable in most countries. What astounds the rational mind is that gambling is unlawful and very much frowned upon in the US.
Isn’t America supposed to be the land of the free? Isn’t the beauty of this fine country that we can do what we please as long as it does not infringe up the freedom of our neighbors? Do we not elect our politicians to serve the people? I am by no means a historian nor would anyone confuse me for a political scientist. In fact, I know little else aside from a few random tidbits as they pertain to sports. But if memory serves correct, there was one other time government tried to curb human nature. It was that terrific idea called Prohibition. Yes… good ole Prohibition… fantastic idea… worked like a charm.
The driving argument for the anti gaming legislation is that betting does harm to the individual. And to that end, yes, gambling can ruin lives if not conducted responsibly, and yes, there is a small percentage that will become addicted to it. Last time I checked however; alcohol, cigarettes, fatty foods, sex, and so on are also addictive and each has the capacity to ruin lives when abused.
As a matter of fact, alcohol and cigarettes afflict and kill hundreds of thousands of people each year. I’ve never conducted formal research on the subject, but I know about as many gamblers as anyone. To date, not one has died from making too many Monday Night Football bets.
In sum, this legislation aims to keep millions upon millions of people from their pursuit of happiness in the name of protecting the small fraction that may become addicted. And in protecting this small fraction of potential problem gamblers in the U.S., it is apparently OK to destroy countless off shore economies that rely upon the U.S. gaming market to employ its' people and feed its' children.
Memo to the U.S. Government; banning internet gambling will not stop people from betting. What it will do is drive betting back underground and wipe out decades worth of progress. The problem that legislators do not seem to understand is that US citizens are going to bet no matter what. It is human nature to do so.
By making it illegal, the simple laws of supply and demand will dictate that opportunistic and unscrupulous back alley bookies will start popping up all over the place. Unfortunately, it is these guys that that run their shops on credit and then break legs to collect unpaid debts rather than the organized, responsible and well oiled corporations that are currently in charge of the betting public.
One would think the government had learned its lesson by now. Wasn’t George Sr. vowing to win the war on drugs back in 1989? In between his “oral briefings” from overweight White House Interns, I recall “Slick Willy” promising to do the same. Here we are more than a decade later with billions of dollars worth of taxpayer money down the drain unsuccessfully trying to curb the drug trade in America. You know why it has failed? ECONOMICS. If there is a demand for it, someone will supply it. It’s a matter of who you want supplying it; weapon bearing gangs or licensed pharmacists.
So everyone knows; I am a supporter of the Unites States and the United States Government in general. I am privileged to be part of this unique country where freedom is the norm and opportunity is in abundance. That being said, when government starts to arbitrarily take away certain basic individual rights, there is a huge problem in my eyes. Gambling is a victimless pursuit and millions of people around the world enjoy it without any sort of negative ramifications.
It is not the job of the U.S. Government to cast moral judgments upon its people about what is perceives to be right and wrong. And if gambling is so wrong in their eyes; what in god’s name are they doing sponsoring it in the form of state run lotteries? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather bet the Cincinnati Bengals on the money line every Sunday than risk hard earned money on the state lottery. At least by betting the Bengals one will win every year or so and that is a whole lot more than I can say for the lottery.
The fact of the matter is this; William Foote sitting in front of his computer and making a few wagers does not infringe upon the rights of others, nor should it make me a criminal. Moreover, it should not make the 180 million U.S. Citizens that enjoy placing a few harmless bets in the privacy of their own home criminals either. But what do I know anyway?
By Supporting Anti-Gaming Legislation
by William Foote
Saturday 26th of July 2003
I just finished reading a very interesting article. It will actually be featured in ESPN the Magazine’s August 4th issue. It is entitled Betting Nation and chronicles the shear enormity and popularity of sports betting in America. One part of the article states, “The raw numbers are big. Really big. Half of Americans aged 16 and older have placed a bet on sports in the past 12 months.”
Another goes on to say, “Despite the weak economy, 78% of sports gamblers say they've increased their betting or kept it at the same level compared with last year.” And still another says, “Estimates for the overall amount bet on sports were as high as $380 billion a year, nearly as high as the U.S. Defense budget.” The study called sports betting “the most widespread and popular form of gambling in America."
My question is this; when will these myopic jerks in Washington realize they cannot control gambling with legislation. Gambling is human nature. In some form or another, gaming is prevalent in every corner of the world and can be traced all the way back to the caveman days. And the ironic part is that it is completely legal and acceptable in most countries. What astounds the rational mind is that gambling is unlawful and very much frowned upon in the US.
Isn’t America supposed to be the land of the free? Isn’t the beauty of this fine country that we can do what we please as long as it does not infringe up the freedom of our neighbors? Do we not elect our politicians to serve the people? I am by no means a historian nor would anyone confuse me for a political scientist. In fact, I know little else aside from a few random tidbits as they pertain to sports. But if memory serves correct, there was one other time government tried to curb human nature. It was that terrific idea called Prohibition. Yes… good ole Prohibition… fantastic idea… worked like a charm.
The driving argument for the anti gaming legislation is that betting does harm to the individual. And to that end, yes, gambling can ruin lives if not conducted responsibly, and yes, there is a small percentage that will become addicted to it. Last time I checked however; alcohol, cigarettes, fatty foods, sex, and so on are also addictive and each has the capacity to ruin lives when abused.
As a matter of fact, alcohol and cigarettes afflict and kill hundreds of thousands of people each year. I’ve never conducted formal research on the subject, but I know about as many gamblers as anyone. To date, not one has died from making too many Monday Night Football bets.
In sum, this legislation aims to keep millions upon millions of people from their pursuit of happiness in the name of protecting the small fraction that may become addicted. And in protecting this small fraction of potential problem gamblers in the U.S., it is apparently OK to destroy countless off shore economies that rely upon the U.S. gaming market to employ its' people and feed its' children.
Memo to the U.S. Government; banning internet gambling will not stop people from betting. What it will do is drive betting back underground and wipe out decades worth of progress. The problem that legislators do not seem to understand is that US citizens are going to bet no matter what. It is human nature to do so.
By making it illegal, the simple laws of supply and demand will dictate that opportunistic and unscrupulous back alley bookies will start popping up all over the place. Unfortunately, it is these guys that that run their shops on credit and then break legs to collect unpaid debts rather than the organized, responsible and well oiled corporations that are currently in charge of the betting public.
One would think the government had learned its lesson by now. Wasn’t George Sr. vowing to win the war on drugs back in 1989? In between his “oral briefings” from overweight White House Interns, I recall “Slick Willy” promising to do the same. Here we are more than a decade later with billions of dollars worth of taxpayer money down the drain unsuccessfully trying to curb the drug trade in America. You know why it has failed? ECONOMICS. If there is a demand for it, someone will supply it. It’s a matter of who you want supplying it; weapon bearing gangs or licensed pharmacists.
So everyone knows; I am a supporter of the Unites States and the United States Government in general. I am privileged to be part of this unique country where freedom is the norm and opportunity is in abundance. That being said, when government starts to arbitrarily take away certain basic individual rights, there is a huge problem in my eyes. Gambling is a victimless pursuit and millions of people around the world enjoy it without any sort of negative ramifications.
It is not the job of the U.S. Government to cast moral judgments upon its people about what is perceives to be right and wrong. And if gambling is so wrong in their eyes; what in god’s name are they doing sponsoring it in the form of state run lotteries? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather bet the Cincinnati Bengals on the money line every Sunday than risk hard earned money on the state lottery. At least by betting the Bengals one will win every year or so and that is a whole lot more than I can say for the lottery.
The fact of the matter is this; William Foote sitting in front of his computer and making a few wagers does not infringe upon the rights of others, nor should it make me a criminal. Moreover, it should not make the 180 million U.S. Citizens that enjoy placing a few harmless bets in the privacy of their own home criminals either. But what do I know anyway?
