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Author: Marc Weinberg
Second Chance Washington is one of the organizations cheering the recent legislation passed in Washington State, which made online gambling a Class C Felony. Reading their mission statement one becomes painfully aware of the stupidity with which a lot of individuals in America approach the issue of online gambling.
Second Chance Washington would like to stop teens from gambling online, which is laudable enough. But look at the "logic" of their mission statement: The woman who runs the organization lost her son in a tragic car accident. He came home late at night and hit a tree. His mother blames the death on his gambling habit.
How gambling came to be the scapegoat is astonishing to me. The police claim it was mechanical failure, so why not start a website campaigning against the auto maker?
Thousands of drivers happen to die every year due to a little-known addiction called 'alcohol', so why not petition to make drinking a felony? Oh wait, America tried that already in one of many attempts to tell people what to do with their lives (I'm not saying or implying that the guy who hit a tree was drunk, but clearly when someone dies in this manner you look for an excuse since ploughing into a tree without one looks like a somewhat dim thing to do).
I am using this pitiful story as a single example of the maniacal thought processes that go through some minds when they consider online gambling. Bear in mind that these people do not have cranial capacity to spare - they honestly believe that criminalizing online gambling is the way to ensure that online gambling does not fall into the hands of organized crime.
The argument runs like this: online gambling could be operated by the Mob or Terrorists (fill in other 'scare' words that terrify middle-Americans at your own leisure - my god, imagine if the Communists found out about online gambling!) who would use these websites to launder money (an incredibly vague concept to the people who use the term). In addition, innocent lives (America's youth) are CORRUPTED and RUINED by playing poker online.
One might argue that in making online gambling illegal and driving operators offshore Americans are doing everything in their power to give unscrupulous individuals a wide berth to get involved in the industry. They're NOT involved right now, but by making online gambling the same class of crime as viewing child pornography or repeated drunk-driving offences (other Class C felonies in Washington) and driving it underground you might encourage sleazy individuals to take over. Fortunately for online gambling the industry will continue to be respectable as forward-thinking countries like England and South Africa are planning to allow online gambling websites to operate within their jurisdictions.
I don't think the Mob ran the alcohol industry at any time other than during Prohibition. It's not like they used to brew beer prior to those laws, but they sure took over when legitimate businesses were no longer allowed to distribute or sell booze. And now? Strangely enough alcohol is run by tax-paying corporations, and it provides the economy with billions of dollars every year.
Alcohol actually kill lots of people all year round. So too guns and cigarettes. Gambling does not kill anyone. One might also argue that Americans have far better ways to spend their time then policing one another in an attempt to prevent online gambling. As with drinking, for the vast majority of us gambling online is an entertainment, a social event, and something we can control. For a very small percentage of addicts this is not the case, and that's why you can go to AA or GA and find the Lord, or shuffle along those twelve steps, or whatever other crutch they offer to compulsive personalities who allow gambling to ruin their lives.
Please note that addictive gambling is not a "condition", a "disease", or a "disorder". It doesn't afflict people like a virus. It's a bad choice that is made by people who have no boundaries and no self-control that then turns into an addiction. Addicts, however, are not passive bystanders who get mugged by their desires - and the fact that they then feel compelled to churn out confessional autobiographies about their "illness" is another nauseating subject I'd rather leave for another time.
Some people are sex addicts. They go to Anonymous meetings where they tell one another how pursuing sex has ruined their lives. Some of them may even have driven into trees and killed themselves. And yet, no one thinks that sex is the problem, that sex is evil, that sex should be banned.
Should teens have sex or drink alcohol? No, they're not emotionally ready to deal with the consequences. Should teens gamble? No, for the same reasons. Should adults have the freedom of choice when it comes to these matters? Gee, I dunno...let me ask a religious fundamentalist (Taliban / Conservative Christian, either will do) and I'll get back to you.
If you want to save the youth of America you're better off banning McDonalds, which poisons them slowly, although one could say that they deserve what they get. How is it possible for a sentient being to place gambling amongst this list of true social ills?
The sad part of this story is that you can still gamble online in the state of Washington as long as you bet on horseracing. Now this is where every argument advanced by these pinheaded senators falls to pieces. Horseracing, which shockingly enough leads the way in campaign contributions to these politicians (along with tribal casinos, which control B&M poker in the State, and who would have a vested financial interest in forcing people off their computers and into their land-based poker rooms), is one of the most pernicious gambling games out there. The house edge is massive and nearly everyone who bets on horseracing loses. Those that don't lose are probably lying to you and to themselves.
But betting on horseracing online from within the state of Washington is perfectly acceptable, because, well because the politicians are hypocritical and the people who voted them in turn a blind eye and let it happen. Americans are losing their basic civil rights, and they're being taken away in plain sight. Yet they continue to wave their flags and boast that they live in the land of the free.
This law is bullshit and everyone knows it. The state of Washington has tried to placate people by saying that it is "highly unlikely that any individual will be prosecuted for online gambling", which is a de facto way of saying that you should continue to gamble online if you want to. But that's not the point, and if you can't see why that's not the point then you should consider signing up at Second Chance Washington, because they can always use more help to fight the Evil One.
Related Gambling Articles:
- Online Casino And Sportsbook Adds Support For Ukash - 06-11-06
- World Cup Soccer Betting Blog And Latest Results - 06-10-06
- Jersey Set To License Online Casino and Gambling Sites - 06-09-06
- Online Sportsbook Expands Soccer World Cup Betting Odds - 06-08-06
- World Cup Soccer Starts Tomorrow - 06-08-06
- Win Funded Online Casino Accounts During Soccer World Cup - 06-08-06
- Sportsbook Posts Odds For NBA Championship - 06-08-06
- Online Casinos Still Offering World Cup Soccer Tickets - 06-07-06
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