Grampa's Ethical News Today
Government greedily markets lotteries and casino gambling.
Little concern shown for the harm and destruction caused.
Money is the root to all evil. A very old saying but how true today is this adage from the past?
In these highly commercialized times, as businesses viciously connive for consumers' money, there are many varied examples of evil marketing practices. The manners in which many corporations attack consumers for sales now appears to be near bottom on the ethic scale as they regularly display a lack of basic genuine fairness.
Just when this gluttonous trend seems to have gone far enough a new low occurs. In this case it's the many government bodies that leave morals behind and resort to new ways in which to increase revenue through the spread of gambling.
Why do these elected representatives of their people actively promote gambling as a source of revenue when it is known to be so harmful to so many? It is common knowledge that gambling can be addictive and harmful, and can destroy or take lives, yet they want that revenue.
For their citizens?
MONEY TRAP CASINO
SPECIAL SENIORS DAYS
Laugh - Have Fun - Play
Free lunch while you win
Know your limits play within them
Gambling might have a place in society for people who want to play games of chance but it should not be marketed as a benefit. Ideally any gambling should be non-profit with the participants playing with and winning or losing money to each other. At the very least it should not be heavily marketed by the country's caretakers, as is now happening in this money mad society.SPECIAL SENIORS DAYS
Laugh - Have Fun - Play
Free lunch while you win
Know your limits play within them
As a young man I played poker with friends and on my first job in a mining camp, every night was poker night. I left camp with a decent net result but there was another young man that was much less fortunate. On payday he always wanted to get the game started but was broke two days later. The foreman finally held his check back until the next float plane arrived, fired and sent him home, for his own good.
He was addicted. So are many that traipse into the casinos and lottery ticket booths, and the government advertisements scream out to come back for more, sucker! When the government reports the gambling income from lotteries and casinos they should balance the books and show the loss by players, their citizens, and their families.
Through marketers they use sly techniques borrowed from business shysters to entice more playing. Glossy lottery commercials constantly pop up showing just how easy and wonderful it will be to win an enormous amount of money.
"Play now and get super rich". Perhaps broken gamblers would like to get back the money that they have lost but the odds are stacked against them. They need help not encouragement to play more!
As if to justify this often cruel business promotion they post warnings, "Gambling can lead to financial and legal problems, loss of career and family, and other serious issues." No kidding! Well cease and desist!
And, "Call this help line if you have a gambling problem." But it's too late if you have lost everything!
You might expect this sleeze from telecommunications or credit marketers, but from our leaders? What is wrong with them? What is wrong with a system that attracts these people to manage our affairs? Government is supposed to be there for the good of the people. If these actions are acceptable perhaps our politicians could introduce the pressure selling of alcohol, tobacco and light drugs. But, "Know your limit. Drink, smoke and get high within it."
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
Resources
Psychologist Stanton Peele investigates, thinks, and writes about addiction.
Is Gambling an Addiction Like Drug and Alcohol Addiction?
As compulsive gambling and problem gamblers attract continued and increasing attention — due to state reliance on gambling for revenues and government and private marketing of the gambling experience — conceptions of compulsive, or addictive, gambling have evolved....
Robert Fulford in The National Post November 2008. Convincing research indicates that about one in 20 gamblers is an addict or in danger of becoming one -- "a problem gambler," as sociology says, or "a degenerate gambler," as Mafia characters on TV say. Commercials for Lotto 6/49 and other scams present gamblers as happy, fun-loving folk, but addictive gamblers live stress-filled and often wretched lives. Read more...
Quebec settles gambling addiction lawsuit. A multi-million dollar settlement has been ironed out between Loto-Québec and thousands of problem gamblers over the cost of treating their addiction. The agreement settles a class action lawsuit brought against Loto-Québec by nearly 120,000 gamblers in 2001. Read more...
"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
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