Wednesday, September 24, 2008

GAMBLING

I have a confession to make: most days at lunchtime I eat in the recliner while watching the Judge David Young show. A few days ago he posed the question "do you think gambling should be legalized in every state?" and gave a website to post our response. Today he had the audio of some woman responding something to this effect: Yes, gambling should be legal in every state because with the rising prices and especially with the price of gas going so high, we can't afford not to gamble?

I'm still puzzling over that comment. Does she think because of higher prices, we should gamble or not gamble. Does her double negative mean we can afford to gamble or does she think she is emphasizing the need not to gamble?!?!? I believe that a double negative is literally a positive, right?

Now you know the mentality of the shows I watch! And since I can't figure this out, maybe I'm as ignorant as most of the people on that show.

At any rate -- I don't think gambling should be legalized in every state - or any state for that matter!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Apparently the poor lady that is pro-gambling is ignorant of the odds against winning and also unaware of how she would be lining the coffers of the casino or whoever/whatever owners. And there go her already depleting monies.

Anonymous said...

States make alot of money off of casinos, and the states need more money right now, so maybe they should make it legal everywhere. If people want to throw their money away, that would be their choice. I, however, do not gamble nor would I if there was a casino in town.

Drake said...

This reminds me to plan our next trip to Vegas, baby.

I never gamble outside of an occasional trip to Las Vegas - not even an office NCAA pool. And even in Vegas we consider it a small part of our "entertainment" - no different than choosing a show or restaurant which can be a gamble of a different sort.

Don't forget about lotteries which are legal in nearly every state and account for a significant portion of total gaming revenue. I have read that lottery revenues have spiked recently. I can see why. It makes sense given that so-called traditional investments - including your own home - seem to be little better than a crap shoot.

Cathy said...

Broken families, bankruptcies, suicide, crime - that's what gambling addictions lead to. I don't care to contribute to such sad, sad problems. Here's an interesting read, and interesting comments that follow:
http://www.dailyherald.com/story/?id=221600

Eric - Retta said...

I have to admit that Retta and/or I purchase a lottery ticket on every trip back to Illinois or when I travel through Trenton GA on business (Golden Gallon @ exit 11 is the normal RR/lottery stop).

The ticket purchase in Illinois has become a joking event with the kids, usually turning into a discussion on the drive about what we would do with the money, what charities/missions we would support, what the kids would want, etc. It always ends the same way, "If God wants to bless us this way, we won't complain, but we don't expect Him to do it that way either."

The $4~$5 a year spent is well worth the discussion we have afterwards with the kids.

I did work with a "professional" blackjack player at BSC. He would go the boat everyday and play. He would always come in talking about what he won, but never his losses. I asked him one day and he told me that he was a "good player" and usually lost 400~500 month. Doesn't make sense to me.