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Machiavellian on 08 April 2021
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JWeinCom said:
Machiavellian said:

Naw, we already have plenty of ways to gamble.  Its really no different from anything done in excess.  The people that go overboard with it usually find something else to destroy their lives.  Basically any particular thing people find either addictive or entertaining can be abused, at some point the government cannot be everyone nanny for everything, but they can give people assistance when they fall.

I don't really buy that argument, because if you make it, then it can probably be used to legitimize deregulation of any market. Guns, alcohol, drugs, etc.

Sure there are SOME people who would gamble no matter what. But if they literally don't have to leave the house to do it, more people are going to vs if they had to actually go to a casino. Obviously, the reason that there is a push to legalize online gambling is because they anticipate way more people will gamble if they do so.

Government can't regulate everything, but certain things raise enough problems that they do, i.e. hard drugs. Unless you're a true libertarian, there are bound to be some things that should be limited. I feel gambling ought to be one of them.

As for providing them help after the fact, that begs the question. If the people running the online betting are paying for that, then that's one thing. The argument is that the tax revenue will support things like education and such which will benefit all of us in the long run. But, intuitively I feel that the amount of money that society has to pay out to help gambling addicts and others affected (i.e. children who need support that their parents can't provide) will be greater than the amount we get out of it. And we know that the people most likely to struggle with gambling are those least able to afford it http://www.buffalo.edu/news/releases/2014/01/001.html. So the end result is funneling money upwards.

Lets put it this way.  I really do not need the government to police everything I do.  You can overeat and cause all kinds of health problems, should the government regulate that.  You can over drink on any particular thing, should the government regulate that.  You can game until you die, should the government monitor your gaming and police that.  Where does personal responsibility ends and government intervention begin.  I am all for regulation when the action has an effect that causes more than one person issues but if that action causes only the person an issue and its their responsibility to manage it, then I am not for government intervention.  There does come a point where I do not need to be babysitted by ever action I take that can cause some measure of harm by the government.  

Just like there are places to help people with overeating, drinking, gaming and any other type of action that can cause issues for people who cannot managed their daily lives, the same goes for gambling which I might add there are plenty of services already there.  

Humans will always find something to get addicted to especially for people who are more susceptible to addition.  Its not like we woke up today and gambling or any other type of activity suddenly hit the scene.  Online gambling is no different then wall street gambling on stocks and other financial items.  Its the same thing, people take risk like this all the time and some get paid and most others get burned.

If I would agree with anything is age.  Just like Drinking, Smoking or any of these types of activities, age should be regulated but I believe that is already the case.  We already tried to over regulate drinking and smoking and the only thing it did was move it underground.  Best to keep it above the surface so it can be monitored.