Monday, July 30, 2007

They Paved Paradise (and put put up a casino)

It’s difficult for a libertarian to oppose legalized casino gambling, (and I don’t,) but my heart is not in defending it. People have a right to get drunk and flush their money down the toilet; but public support for turning what was once publicly owned woodland in Middleborough, Mass. into a giant hotel and casino is a depressing reminder of what we value – tawdriness, and mindless stimulation over repose, not to mention illusions of easy money. "This is like a Thanksgiving Day turkey," one supporter of the Middleborough casino told the Boston Globe, "This deal is stuffed with extra money."

We’ll see. But whether or not this casino is built and whether or not it proves to be a windfall for the town or its downfall, casino gambling is wildly popular and likely to be legalized soon in Massachusetts. As the Boston Globe editorial page recently conceded, in rueful support of legalization, “millions of Americans have voted with their feet for the notion that casinos are an acceptable, even desirable part of the US leisure industry.” The Commonwealth may as well get a piece of it. People who balk at paying taxes directly to the state will clamor to pay them indirectly through both lotteries and casinos. I bet here in Massachusetts they’ll get the chance.

popular culture | legalized gambling

7/30/2007 3:28:00 PM by Wendy Kaminer | Comments [2] |
Related posts:
George Carlin, RIP
This Just In: Take me out to the ballgame, but don't boo
This Just In: Harvey Silverglate on Eliot Spitzer, newspapers, and Milan Kohout
A "Twist" On NSA Wiretapping and the Supreme Court
This Just In: Fox News Host Wants to Censor Hip-Hop
This Just In: Happy Aqua Teen Anniversary!

Monday, July 30, 2007 3:17:18 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

As a libertarian who fully supports allowing legal gambling, what bugs me about the way so much of it *gets* legalized is that it while it may be legal it's not really free.

States either own the gambling outright (lotteries) or determine who and how many and where casinos can operate -- usually based on who donates the most cash or place special fees and taxes on the operations that are put in place primarily to generate revenue.

I don't want to see the state outlaw gambling, but the way things are now states encourage people to gamble as they reap the financial rewards from it. I mean, I'd like prostitution to be legal but I don't want the state running brothels. Though consider the people whom brothels employ, it would be appropriate.

Kevin O'Reilly

Wednesday, August 15, 2007 10:42:54 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

The main impetus behind the proliferation of casino gambling is the fiscal starvation of our cities and towns, and even our states. This starvation is directly attributable to the huge amount of our wealth that is scooped up by the Internal Revenue Service, and then thrown down a gigantic sink-hole by the federal government. What is not wasted by incompetently-executed and ill-considered military adventures (and misadventures), a world-wide and futile drug war, faith-based initiatives, aid to one despot after another, a sprawling and disorganized "Homeland Security Department," and countless other federal boondoggles and pork barrel projects, is wasted in ways that we don't even know about. Suddenly, "federalism" seems like an idea worth considering, doesn't it? Harvey Silverglate

Harvey Silverglate

Comments are closed.