175
Legalizing Sports Gambling Was a Huge Mistake
(www.theatlantic.com)
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
this post was submitted on 27 Sep 2024
175 points (98.9% liked)
news
23575 readers
700 users here now
Welcome to c/news! Please read the Hexbear Code of Conduct and remember... we're all comrades here.
Rules:
-- PLEASE KEEP POST TITLES INFORMATIVE --
-- Overly editorialized titles, particularly if they link to opinion pieces, may get your post removed. --
-- All posts must include a link to their source. Screenshots are fine IF you include the link in the post body. --
-- If you are citing a twitter post as news please include not just the twitter.com in your links but also nitter.net (or another Nitter instance). There is also a Firefox extension that can redirect Twitter links to a Nitter instance: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/libredirect/ or archive them as you would any other reactionary source using e.g. https://archive.today . Twitter screenshots still need to be sourced or they will be removed --
-- Mass tagging comm moderators across multiple posts like a broken markov chain bot will result in a comm ban--
-- Repeated consecutive posting of reactionary sources, fake news, misleading / outdated news, false alarms over ghoul deaths, and/or shitposts will result in a comm ban.--
-- Neglecting to use content warnings or NSFW when dealing with disturbing content will be removed until in compliance. Users who are consecutively reported due to failing to use content warnings or NSFW tags when commenting on or posting disturbing content will result in the user being banned. --
-- Using April 1st as an excuse to post fake headlines, like the resurrection of Kissinger while he is still fortunately dead, will result in the poster being thrown in the gamer gulag and be sentenced to play and beat trashy mobile games like 'Raid: Shadow Legends' in order to be rehabilitated back into general society. --
founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
My views put me somewhere between a Marxist-Leninist and Libertarian Socialist. I want the masses to own the means of production, and a state that enables people more than it restricts them. Longer reasoning coming.
No, I mean you sound like you are a member of the Libertarian Party in the US.
There is no Marxist-Leninist party in the world that wants completely uncontrolled vices, what the fuck?
Like casinos/lotteries/now sports betting are some of the most predatory forms of capitalism known to man, you aren't even a socialist if you want them deregulated.
You're to the right of a typical Democrat
That's not true at all. I'm to the left of everyone in my community except maybe the 2 Ultras I know.
That's a gross misrepresentation of where I stand.
Someone mentioned a father of three becoming a gambling addict. Of course I don't support that, and frankly I expect better of folks here than to jump into arguments like that. In that particular case I want the state to intervene for child endangerment leaning towards child abuse.
But just because some people become addicted to a thing, and a few people ruin their lives over the thing, doesn't mean the government should force all of us to avoid the thing. For every addict or idiot who blows up their account and has to sell their home, there's millions of people who are enjoying gambling for what it is supposed to be: entertainment. Most people are putting $20 in on their bets or slots or whatever and not expecting to win anything but get some fun out of the deal.
Someone else explained how gambling is exploitative. Yes it is! So is everything under Capitalism! Cheap immigrant labor was exploited so a grocer can profit off selling me the tomatoes they picked. The supply chain of Funko Pops is probably some Dickensian nightmare of injection molds and chemical compounds that makes Flint, MI water look safe to drink. I am typing this on a device that probably contains metals mined by kids in the congo. There's NO ethical consumption under Capitalism! Why would I single out one type of consumption when the whole damn system is rotten?
I also don't support banning the sale of Funko Pops, produce, cars, or laptop computers.
Capitalism is essentially a world-wide open-air prison. You can't escape it, you can't opt out, and if you try to fight it you get punished or killed. Borders are the walls and the "free market" is the prison guard. You have to conform to survive. There's no option to not work, to not gamble your money for "retirement", to gamble with your health, and to make a million little decisions that you wouldn't take if you weren't coerced to participate in this system. This system is bullshit. I want to destroy it
As a member of the LGBT community, I really don't want the state to have any more power over me. It's the right wing that wants to regulate what people do with their lives, whether that's telling women they can't control their own bodies, telling drag queens they can't be near kids, telling trans people in general they can't exist, telling me I can't marry another human with a penis, etc. I'm not in favor of a state like this because my entire life has been under a "nanny" state that restricts everything I do.
It baffles me that as leftists we claim to want to liberate the masses, and then turn around and get very paternal about a few specific things like gambling, drugs, etc. I would think us of all people would understand wanting to be left alone! I want to be left alone! I want a state that leaves people alone!
Maybe a state where the people have complete control will be different, but I do NOT ever want to allow unelected bureaucrats to have power over my body, my family, and my friends' lives the way the U.S. has control over those right now.
It's not a few we're talking about the systemic robbery of the working class by Draft Kings and their ilk
Millions!? Are you fucking kidding me, where did this ratio come from?
Capitalism is bad everywhere so nothing is worse than anything else. I can actually do whatever the fuck I want. Since jaywalking is also a crime it makes no sense to jail someone longer for murder. Everything is flat! Tomatoes and the fucking Mafia are equal! I'm on a smart phone so I'm as bad as the goddamn Sackler family who should be allowed to keep up their drug operation because everything is equally bad!
you sound like my racist uncle
"leftist" is a wobbly meaningless word that lets radlibs pretend to be revolutionary. Hexbear is a communist community. Communist communist communist. I'm a commie.
I'm extremely pro laws and rules and restrictions if they're in the interest of the working class. Banning sports betting apps is clearly in the interest of the working class.
I don't share your sentiment and think you should change your display name to Ron Paul.
Did one of your friends or family members found DraftKings or something?
No, it's your personal opinion of what the working class wants. We need to operate in reality, and the reality is demand is there for all of these betting apps and millions of people to be using them every day.
I don't do it personally, it's not for me, but that's not the point. A good communist should go to the masses and build a program based on what they want, not what you think they want
I don't need a libertarian to tell me what a good communist would do.
And I don't need a Republican to tell me what a good Marxist would do
Who do you think the working class consists of?
That some people would buy something does not mean the proletariat as a bloc supports it. Very many people think sports gambling on this digital industrial scale is absolutely fucked, and from a democratic standpoint, if the majority believe that, the thing to do is ban it. Moreover, even among the 19% of Americans who use these apps (and not all of them are devotees, mind), a meaningful portion of them are there because of advertising glamorizing the apps, and a fair portion are still there because they are addicts, i.e. it's not a choice being made freely. It seems like an obvious measure to present the options of banning or re-legalizing it with a discussion on things like gambling addiction.
As an aside, I am once again asking you to read Mao: https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/mao/selected-works/volume-1/mswv1_2.htm#g9 . Once workers are given power, it is entirely possible for them to take action against the gambling that has troubled their community under the dictatorship of the owning class.
Based on limited information, I don't like all of the measures described there, but I think it's unquestionably superior to the previous state of things because what is lost were some cultural affectations and hobbies, and what was gained was freedom from both psychological and chemical addictions, along with food security, safety from banditry, lower rent, political representation, etc.
Just want to point out that you don't want the state to have power over you by banning your gambling treats, but you are fine with the state having the power to take away the children of gambling addicts.
One other point: I think pushing to ban things like gambling or alcohol is BAD political strategy! I want a working class movement to overthrow the current U.S. system. We need this movement badly. The last thing the movement needs is to split or fracture because some people want to be nosy about how other people choose to spend their after-bills money. The fact is the left isn't growing at the rate it needs to, and we should take a long look at why. I don't believe any tendency has the complete picture. Try something different.
It's not politically consistent to say on one hand we should liberate the workers from the chains of capitalism, but then turn around and go, "no smoking, no drinking, no casinos, no gacha mechanics in video games, etc." Right-wingers take away peoples' choices. You win people over by protecting their treats, protecting their choices, and trusting them to live authentic lives. Even if that means doing things you personally don't approve of! If you're not hurting someone else and you are taking care of yourself, go blow that $50 on slots! Go buy that $300 Funko, or blow that money on a new XboxStation 6, whatever. Have fun, I don't care!
Casinos and gacha mechanics are the fucking embodiment of capitalism, of course I'd want to liberate people from that
Also smoking and drinking are very bad for your health and it's a state's duty to protect its people from dangers to their health
One last thing: Where does the "vice" label come from anyway? Why are some activities labeled "vices" and others are not? I have a feeling there's a religious component behind this. I hate that religion has made so many people poke and prod into other people's personal lives. It's none of your business what's in my pants, or how I dress, or what I want to do in my free time. I'm sick and tired of Christians and other religious types always trying to force their lifestyle on me! Leave me alone, and I'll leave you alone.
When you combine idealism with materialist communism all you get is a philosophical abomination
Join the club. I've been called an "abomination" all my life :)
would you like a little help getting up on that cross?