Essays

Why It’s Time to Disrupt the “Business as Usual” Approach to the Government Policy of Predatory Gambling

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This MUST-READ report by Charles Livingstone and Richard Woolley provides what may be the best analysis about how almost 100% of the responsibility for problem gambling is placed on the backs of the afflicted citizens. Predatory gambling operators and the government accept virtually no responsibility.  The report also shows why it is time to disrupt this “business as usual” approach promoted by those who profit from government-sanctioned predatory gambling.

Risky Business: A Few Provocations on the Regulation of Gambling Machines

CkirbyWhy It’s Time to Disrupt the “Business as Usual” Approach to the Government Policy of Predatory Gambling
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The libertarian argument against government-sponsored casinos

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“When the state joins forces with private industry in order to sponsor and propagate an old human vice, the results can devastate both civic life and, in the long run, the civic purse as well.”  This is the conclusion made by author Harvey Silvergate after a visit to Atlantic City with his son. His libertarian values would, one would think, compel him to support as many casinos as the free market would support. However, this visit to an Atlantic City casino showed him the despair which problem gamblers feel as they drain their savings in slots. The surrounding community, with its old, rundown, dilapidated buildings further convinced him of casinos’ harmful effects. Ultimately he makes the conclusion that this is not so much a private business as it is a government-sponsored industry that causes social dislocation and poverty. The story he tells is gripping and the poverty he describes is palpable. The article is a must-read for anyone looking into the issues of government-sponsored casino gambling.

Libertarian angst- My problem with casinos and slots

LesThe libertarian argument against government-sponsored casinos
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Gambling Nation: A Democracy of Risk for Risk’s Sake

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Below is a compelling, hard-hitting column by Esquire’s Charlie Pierce about what it means to turn America into a casino republic, declaring “The United States of America is now nothing more than a place where you gamble.”

Gambling Nation: A Democracy of Risk for Risk’s Sake

LesGambling Nation: A Democracy of Risk for Risk’s Sake
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‘Gamble responsibly’ is an ad, not a deterrent

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State governments presumably believe that the ‘gamble responsibly’ message is evidence of their concern about gambling problems, and will assist people who gamble to do so in a ‘responsible’ manner. This message seems to be no more than a façade however, providing a false sense of caring, as persuasively explained in this article by Charles Livingstone.

‘Gamble responsibly’ is an ad, not a deterrent 

Ckirby‘Gamble responsibly’ is an ad, not a deterrent
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Thrift or Debt: Which Direction is Right for Texas?

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The Texas Thrift Coalition is a nonpartisan, volunteer group of leaders and organizations whose goal is to promote thrift and encourage savings as a path to family prosperity in Texas. In 2011, the group published Thrift or Debt: Which Direction is Right for Texas? which found: Texas families face a savings crisis; anti-thrift institutions are trapping Texas families in debt; Texans see a danger in the rise of the anti-thrifts; Texans oppose the expansion of state-sponsored gambling; and Texans want to save more. The coalition issued the following recommendations:

To Oppose Debt

  • close payday lenders’ “lucrative loophole”
  • protect military families from payday lenders
  • vote “no” on casino gambling


To Support Thrift

  • to create a Texas “Savings Ticket”
  • promote alternatives to payday lenders
  • bring back national thrift week

Thrift or Debt – An Appeal to the Texas Legislature From the Texas Thrift Coalition

CkirbyThrift or Debt: Which Direction is Right for Texas?
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Government’s Monopoly of Commercialized Gambling

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Yale Law School’s Stephen Carter wrote a terrific column in April 2011 on state lotteries. Carter writes: “Why on earth do we allow the government to hold a monopoly on the very profitable (if rather disgusting) business of persuading the suffering to part with their money in the hope of a munificent return they are all but certain never to see? In other words, why is the government in the lottery business at all?”

The state lottery has been a spectacular failure and more and more intelligent thinkers like Carter are speaking the truth about it.

End the Government’s Lottery Monopoly

LesGovernment’s Monopoly of Commercialized Gambling
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Government-Run Gambling Bigger Than Organized Crime

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Should our democratic institutions be competing with organized crime for revenue? Philadelphia Inquirer columnist Monica Yant Kinney discovers an important distinction between illegal underground gambling and government-sponsored predatory gambling: “Bookies don’t prey on gamblers. Bookies don’t solicit. Gamblers find them.”

This lies in stark contrast to state governments using taxpayer money to solicit our fellow citizens to play the lottery and providing tax incentives to allow casinos to come to town.

Pennsylvania Competing with Mob Bookies

CkirbyGovernment-Run Gambling Bigger Than Organized Crime
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Public Health Leader Calls on Rhode Island Not to Create Even More Gambling Addicts

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Dr. Bob Breen, a psychiatrist from Rhode Island Hospital, wrote a letter in March 2011 to Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee explaining that 50% of the state’s gambling revenue comes from addicts and warning that allowing table games would create 1,000 to 2,250 new addicts.

Bob Breen Letter to RI Governor Chafee

CkirbyPublic Health Leader Calls on Rhode Island Not to Create Even More Gambling Addicts
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