The House Always Wins

Hi, everybody, I'm AllMusicFan, and I'm not a gambler.

I know it goes against many of my libertarian instincts to be bothered by this headlong rush by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to introduce casino gambling to the state. Who am I to tell people what to do with their money? After all, we're told it'll bring jobs to depressed areas, reduce property taxes, compete with Atlantic City, and who knows, maybe cure the common cold, too. But today, I read an editorial by Bruce Shimmel in Philadelphia's City Paper, which described a public hearing on casino plans for Philadelphia:

The proposed casinos were all boxes, boxes, boxes. Styled in oh-so-tasteful Olde Tyme or Retro or Futurama themes, they were warehouses lined with slot machines, all carefully engineered to produce more losers than winners. In the last wicked twist of the industrial revolution, we're planning factories that manufacture poverty.

For the rest of us, who actually live here, we will get a path along the river. But to get there, we'll have to schlep around the boxes and dance with the traffic cutting conga-lines in our neighborhoods.

This is great stuff, because it encapsulates so much of what I dislike about the gambling industry.

It wasn't enough that thirty-some odd years ago, the states began setting up lotteries to raise money for seniors and kids. They weren't honest enough, after all, to just raise taxes on rich folks, or not to splurge on other spending. No, they had to sell the excitement of winning with some great PR campaigns. That way the public doesn't see it for what it essentially is: a regressive tax. You don't see Paris Hilton standing on line to buy a Powerball ticket, do you?

But it wasn't enough. No, states had to adopt casino gambling, to compete with Las Vegas. First, Atlantic City was supposed to be transformed into a shining city. And for a few blocks, it has been. Newsflash: the rest is still a dump, rife with crime, corruption and poverty. Then, other states got into the act. And Las Vegas responded by ramping up its advertising and marketing efforts.

A few years ago, I was in New Orleans, and out of curiosity, more than anything else, went to Bally's riverboat casino. After walking in, I took a look at people standing in line to get gambling chips. Bedraggled ... infirm ... I was immediately disturbed by what I saw. These were people who should be saving their money, getting involved with community groups to maximize their individual power, not cashing their pension or Social Security checks on a losing bet. This isn't the glamorous, beautiful people who can play around with lots of free cash at the Borgata in A.C. that I'm talking about.

So, again, who am I to tell people what to do with their money? Well, it's fine with me as long as people have something to fall back on when hard times hit - a social net of family, friends, church, and community. But I fear we've become so atomized as a society that the only recourse for many will be their fellow taxpayers. And that's not fair.