Current Events > I don't get the issue a lot of people have with gambling

(+) Yeah! (+)

It's literally just spending money on more money (or at least the hope of making more money). This is self-contained and the action itself affects no one else, negatively or positively.

Avoiding gambling losses/debt is 100% a matter of personal responsibility.

If you are against gambling, you should also be against any form of investment or any form of unnecessary spending.
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Gambling addicts lose all their money gambling. They take their family's money and lose that, leaving a family potentially with kids in a bad way. They then start stealing money from other people and lose that, leaving other people in a bad way. They get arrested and go to jail for theft, taking public money from the community to affect that arrest and imprisonment.

Not all that difficult to figure out.
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Damn_Underscore posted...

This is self-contained and the action itself affects no one else

do you exist in a world where everyone is totally independent of all connections or something? what if they have a family to take care of? what if their parents are concerned they're wasting money? what about if it's your friend and you see him burning through all his savings on nothing? etc
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Gambling addictions tend to lead to greater crime in the community, no different to drug addictions - the people need money to feed their addiction and will try and get it no matter what.

^That isn't gambling's fault. The act of stealing is the problem. You could also say that people who are addicted to making impulse purchases can steal money to feed their addiction. But who wants to ban freedom of purchasing?
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Uneven odds that prey on a hole in human logical thinking. Can be very addictive, becomes unsightly when popular (slot machines in gas stations, etc), is often associated with binge drinking and sexual promiscuity.

I dont give much of a shit, but those are the general reasons.
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Studies show that people spend more using credit cards than using cash (which makes sense)

https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/credit-cards/credit-cards-make-you-spend-more/

Should we ban/restrict credit cards?
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I agree bit i also understand why some lines of work frown upon it like say a cop. Cop gets addicted to gambling hes now in debt hes more likely to accept a bribe or do something dirty to make some money.
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Damn_Underscore posted...

^That isn't gambling's fault. The act of stealing is the problem. You could also say that people who are addicted to making impulse purchases can steal money to feed their addiction. But who wants to ban freedom of purchasing?

Meth isnt a problem only the stealing to get money for meth is!
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The best explanation that I've heard is that gambling is betting against the house. Investments, while still carrying risks, are a bet with the house.
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Vance_McDonald posted...

Uneven odds that prey on a hole in human logical thinking.

Then there should be more awareness campaigns against this specifically, that aren't necessarily against gambling itself.

Take this organization (randomly found through google search):

https://texansagainstgambling.com

Their goal seems to just to be anti-gambling rather than to logically explain the risks of gambling. On the other side you have casino ads which show people having fun gambling and quickly say "Always gamble responsibly" at the end. Neither are helpful tbh.
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CanuckCowboy posted...

Damn_Underscore posted...

^That isn't gambling's fault. The act of stealing is the problem. You could also say that people who are addicted to making impulse purchases can steal money to feed their addiction. But who wants to ban freedom of purchasing?

Meth isnt a problem only the stealing to get money for meth is!

Imagine comparing someone who uses Meth to a normal guy who buys a $5 lotto ticket once a week

LadyVyxx posted...

CanuckCowboy posted...

Damn_Underscore posted...

^That isn't gambling's fault. The act of stealing is the problem. You could also say that people who are addicted to making impulse purchases can steal money to feed their addiction. But who wants to ban freedom of purchasing?

Meth isnt a problem only the stealing to get money for meth is!

Imagine comparing someone who uses Meth to a normal guy who buys a $5 lotto ticket once a week

Yeah cause thats obviously the comparison and not a degenerate gambling addict.

Great post dude.
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CanuckCowboy posted...

Damn_Underscore posted...

^That isn't gambling's fault. The act of stealing is the problem. You could also say that people who are addicted to making impulse purchases can steal money to feed their addiction. But who wants to ban freedom of purchasing?

Meth isnt a problem only the stealing to get money for meth is!

False equivalency. The action of using meth can and will destroy your body, along with causing you to want to take more of it.

Gambling responsibly is no different than making any other purchase responsibly. All stores (including casinos) are going to try to get you to make impulse purchases, it's up to you to know your limit.
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Damn_Underscore posted...

False equivalency. The action of using meth can and will destroy your body, along with causing you to want to take more of it.

Gambling responsibly is no different than making any other purchase responsibly. All stores (including casinos) are going to try to get you to make impulse purchases, it's up to you to know your limit.

TC, not one single person on Earth gives a shit about gambling responsibly. Its the fact that its so easy (like alcoholism, drug addiction, etc) to turn south; thats when its an issue.

Likewise, no one is saying that having a beer is bad. But alcoholism is because it inevitably affects others, just like a gambling addiction.

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I make a lot of money from gambling but yes for a lot of people it is a cancer

Bananana posted...

Damn_Underscore posted...

False equivalency. The action of using meth can and will destroy your body, along with causing you to want to take more of it.

Gambling responsibly is no different than making any other purchase responsibly. All stores (including casinos) are going to try to get you to make impulse purchases, it's up to you to know your limit.

Likewise, no one is saying that having a beer is bad. But alcoholism is because it inevitably affects others, just like a gambling addiction.

I'm not talking about that, though. There are many people who are against gambling, full stop. There are people who are against gambling responsibly, people who want to ban and/or stop the expansion of casinos, etc.

Evidence of this is the great restriction of gambling in the US (and I'm guessing the rest of the world), much more so than alcohol. Or the fact that sports gambling was banned in most of the US until very recently.
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I went to a casino for the first time on Friday night. I put in $10 and got $80.
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maybe you'll understand in 10 years