This is from an obscure newspaper of a small Canadian city, but I think the topic is an important one. Should the government use gambling to raise revenue, or does this simply prey on those who have a gambling addiction? Do you think gambling (in the form of either lottery tickets or casinos) is a good or bad thing in Slovakia?
In all honesty, I thought Canadian authorities knew better than to misuse their own people like this. What it looks to me is that the authorities are just promoting gambling so that helpless, addicted people, including a lot of students, visit casinos and ticket stands so that they spend money there instead of somewhere else. Put simply, I’m not sure how this will help the local economy since the money that could have been spent in shops, restaurants, cinemas etc. just goes to a different pocketbook. I’m sure that the individual that came up with the $4.6 billion figure did his maths right; he just forgot to mention that more than $4.6 billion will go disappear from the revenue of the grocery stores – to use the author’s example.
ReplyDeleteThere is another, completely different side to this – the moral side. Is it right to practically steal from your own people so you can fill your pockets? Do they not realize that gambling addicts have worse lives and hence usually work less productively which leads to less money being made and less taxes that can be collected? For the sake of the Canadians I hope that whoever is responsible for the nonsense will get some sense before they point the town in the direction of gambling addiction and unavoidable doom. Luckily, here in Slovakia gambling isn’t enough of a temptation for people to get addicted to since the industry is so small and there really isn’t a lot of money that can be won. Knowing the average Slovak businessman, it is however just a matter of time before a similar situation is able to arise here.
I have to disagree with your opinion due to the fact that it really depends on how you look at the situation. I don’t want you to misunderstand me, therefore I am pointing out that I personally think gambling is an unhealthy and dangerous extreme which evolved from casual gaming and the temptation of winning a huge pile of money in a short period of time.
DeleteGambling isn’t a real disease, although in some cases it is actually treated as a brain disease, nevertheless it can’t be transmitted onto other people like most infectious diseases would. Surprisingly, people tend to get this while playing with other people, but it is one’s choice whether to start or not. If an individual chooses to start playing hazardous games, then considering whether the risks are worth the earnings should be an elementary and natural thing to do. People get into gambling problems by their own stupidity and irresponsibleness; there is no doubt about that and as a result the government decides to exploit this act by indirectly supporting the gamblers in what they do, which does sound quite cruel and harsh at first, but it’s not like the government is forcefully impelling the gamblers to continue in what they do. Thus, making the act of gambling fairly possible to stop, that is if the individual really wants to.
I think Sam’s point is very right. I also could not believe Canadian’s officials would allow something like gambling sites be built in their region. Firstly, I really believed Canadians are not likely to accept such “plague,” from the point of moral view, secondly, because I thought the corruption will not ever raise to the level industry lobby would have its way, and thirdly, because I thought Canadians were better economists. Well, I will have to reconsider my beliefs about Canadians.
DeleteOn the other hand, even though I certainly agree that the government should not in any way enforce or emphasize gambling, I think it is not so critical in Slovakia, nor it have the tendency to be. It is also not very appropriate to compare gambling to alcohol. Both are highly addictive, of course, though, Slovaks have a deep tradition in drinking, while it cannot be said about gambling, which had been frowned upon because of various moral/religion reasons. Therefore I believe gambling in Slovakia does not have the potential to flourish.
Until I read this article, I always though that supporting gambling would be a wise choice for government. We always hear about the lack of money and the debt the government has. It would also be cool that our state supports gambling, just like Netherlands with weed.
ReplyDeleteHowever, there are more issues to address than just the lack of money for government. As the article states, the number of people with addiction has increased, which is not surprising. This could be a great problem in Slovakia as there are many people here that are either unemployed or just able to support themselves with the money they make. The gambling addiction could only broaden this problem. Slovakia is not ready to face such a problem. There are not enough facilities that would take care of addiction and it would also be very costly to deal with this.
However, I do not think that such a law would be passed in Slovakia anytime soon. Majority of people does not even count this as a possibility. This is probably for the best.
A gambling addiction is one of the few things, that should not be taken lightly, and yet, it is. I, personally, would put gambling addictions well beyond the ranks of tobacco and alcohol usage. While the latter are without a doubt very damaging with respect to body health, the former is capable of literally throwing you out on the street with no roof over your head, should you happen to get an unlucky streak. I strongly disagree with both the Canadian government proposal made in the article and their motives behind such implementation. If the government wished to gain revenue, I would be more inclined to have them raise taxes instead of going for such impetuous change. The reason why I strongly advise against gambling, is because to me gambling seems like a fraud, an elaborate scam in which the odds are clearly stacked against the gambler, yet in his fervor he fails to realize that. This applies predominantly to lottery, slot machines, roulette and other wheel-of-fortune type games and several card games. The only real form of gambling I would consider appropriate is poker, since there is a certain degree of skill involved and is not based entirely on luck and pure chance. However, if the government is truly seeking to increase its funds, it would be really defrauding itself of revenue, if the proposed changes were to be implemented. It is clearly stated in the article that only 5% of the earnings are flowing back into the economy and I really doubt some measly 2000 jobs would help balance the offset out. In my opinion, an increase in the casino count and activity, will directly result into an increase of unemployment and a rise the number of homeless people, which in the long term would cause more harm than good economy-wise.
ReplyDeleteI strongly agree with Valkov’s opinion about gambling and the proposal of the Canadian government. Gambling is a big problem in many countries and by many governments not taken seriously. In many countries the government ignores this problem simply because they also profit from it. The owners of the game rooms have to pay a lot of money to the government in form of taxes.
DeleteValkov’s stated in his comment "an increase in the casino count and activity, will directly result into an increase of unemployment and a rise the number of homeless people," and it’s in my opinion, true. To prevent the already mentioned causes, due to an increase in the casino count and activity, I would recommend making gambling illegal. In 2009 the Russian government decided to make gambling illegal. The number of gamblers rapidly decreased. The Russian government didn’t care about how much money they will lose or how it will change the economy. They just wanted to help the Russian people and prevent gamblers from losing all their money for nothing.
This is a comment on Sam's comment. After I have read his article, I realized that I have been too concentrated on the economic side of this problem. I agree, that gambling could have a serious effect on a person. There is a great problem with alcohol in Slovakia. This could imply, that a Slovak person is quite prone to develop an addiction. I know a few people that have a problem with alcohol, so I think that a gambling law should definitely not be passed.
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