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Is gambling a good way to
generate money for state projects and charities, or is it just taxes with
another name, or even stealing? Does it
prey on people’s addictions? How does
it affect tourism and a town or city’s reputation? Would Bratislava be a better place with fewer casinos, or are they
an important part of the economy?
I find this article very actual and interesting. In my opinion gambling is not the best way to earn money for both, citizen and the city government. It is not good idea to put casino into the small city. If there is casino in the city with 100 000 residents it is much more different than in the city with 10 000. It is not essential in such a small city. People who really want to play in the Casino, can go into nearby Brantford where there is one already. And do not expose other people to temptation. I know that pros are more money for the city or more attractive environment for rich tourists but they should think about permanent citizens of the city. For many people is gambling something new and special but once they try it, some of them will fall into vicious circle of loses. It can destroy their families and even lives. I totally agree with the sentence of Pastor Richard Frey, who said that it is “a tax on the gullible”. Because a lot of people do not know that their chance of great victory is smaller than negligible.
ReplyDeleteCasinos use weakness of many people for their profit. And I think it is not moral. Many people were against building it in the city of Elmira and I think it is good. City government should definitely take into account opinion of the people who live there. In Niagara Falls problem of gambling doubled only year after building first casino. I think the same thing can happen in Elmira. Government should take it into consideration before approving casino and think about citizens of the city. Disregarding the referendum about building casino was rude and not empathic. If people once said definite “No!” to the casino, there is nothing to talk about. Luckily, city residents made quick and severe backlash. And then was made a definite decision not to build the casino what is very positive.
This is a comment from Juraj Halabrin:
ReplyDeleteThe article has shown me both sides of the gambling issue, mentioning also facts and statistics. Hence I could have made a clear opinion: “Government should prevent its citizens from gambling.” For sure, there could be a discussion about it.
However, casinos do not create any product (except for artificial satisfaction and taxes). They merely shift the capital to their accounts and therefore they do not provide almost anything positive for the community. Only the negatives such as addiction and problems related to it.
This does not mean that we do not record a financial profit from the existence of casinos. However, it reflects only the fact that after building a casino, the people (also from the area it is built in, for example in Brantford, local gamblers created 40% of the casino´s business) start using the money they had been depositing many years before (or inherited after other family members) as the casino turns their hobbies into addictions (according to Waterloo Region´s chief medical officer of health).
However, this enormous profit is only temporary and it is less effective than basic taxes. The temporariness is due to the limited amount of money local gamblers have stored or borrowed from the bank. Afterwards they often lose their property as the result of a lost bet which causes inability to refund the money borrowed for winning that bet. The ineffectiveness of casinos, on the contrary with usual taxes, is clear as the obtained money is shared with private sector (casino owners) and do not go directly to the exchequer.
Moreover, in many cases it is just a “quick-fix solution” as Chris Friel named it. However, recently as the casino in that area had been profiting for fourteen years, he commented: “It´s another industry in our community.” Yes, that is right. But there are people spending money in the casino for whom it is harmful. And this creates the problems. Gamblers concentrate on their strategies and also dream about their winning. This destructs families and afterwards economics (as family loses its financial source). Hence many people in an area where a casino should be built strike, protest or, at least, present their disagreement. This supports the case of Woolwich referendum. Here the people rejected the idea of building the casino. The government disregarded it and so the public had to show their opinion again, in a public strike.
All in all, building casinos or any facilities for gambling is a wrong step. Despite it can temporarily pretend to solve the financial problem, it does not. Furthermore, the unpleasant results as addiction, family breakdown and eventually economy regression are seen on the population of the area. Therefore let us say: “No!” to gambling and casinos.
Firstly, I think Matúš is right. I also like that the money from the Brantford casino were used for revitalizing downtown, building recreational facility and supporting various community organisations. However, I do not agree with the way of generating those money. I see that all the improvements made in the city were beneficial for its inhabitants, but I look at it in the same way as Michelle Dunsford. Gambling is stealing and I agree with Matúš in a point that city should earn money in a different way. I also consider gambling as dangerous because of its addiction. One can easily fall into a vicious circle and there in no turning back in many cases. For this reason I would say that the impact on citizens in a developing area which needs strong and competent people to be able to develop would be the exact opposite of beneficial. On the other hand, in bigger and developed areas such as Bratislava as Matúš said: building a casino would not affect the city much. It is hard to say whether it would be a better place when having fewer casinos, but I think Matúš is right that if there would be more of them, the attraction would not be so strong because of existing big offer of casinos and other facilities.
ReplyDelete