I am going to share with you some thoughts on state sponsored gambling. To begin let’s consider the intended role of the state. While the state has the least number of responsibilities in comparison to the other societal spheres, much can be said about it from a biblical and philosophical point of view.
Genesis 9:6 lays the basis for the state when it says, whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in His own image.
Then there’s Romans 13 which tells us that the state’s authority comes from God and warns readers that the state serves as God’s avenger to carry out His wrath on those who do evil.
In the Declaration of Independence our founders made it clear that the state has a duty to protect our God given rights as they said, we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men.
In his work the Law, published in 1850 after the French Revolution Fredéric Bastiat also affirmed the need for our rights to be protected by the state. He is quoted as saying, and this common force is to do only what the individual forces have a natural and lawful right to do: to protect persons, liberties, and properties; to maintain the right of each, and to cause justice to reign over us all.
Even in Proverbs 31 King Lameul’s mother stressed the need to remember decrees and reminded him not to pervert the rights of the afflicted.
Whether you want to say that the state is there to punish the wicked or maintain order it exists to promote the common good.
Enter in state sponsored gambling which for all intents and purpose we will focus our attention on lotteries and casino gambling. It is important to acknowledge that gambling is a highly addictive activity and the social impact costs associated with it are just as high if not higher than that of drugs and alcohol. Estimates tell us that social impact costs from gambling outweigh revenues 3 to 1. Data shows that 20-30% of pathological gamblers have declared bankruptcy and that 90% gamble with their paychecks or family savings. Embezzlement rates are 25% higher in jurisdictions that have gambling.
It is not just gambling addicts who are affected but also friends, family, co-workers, and the community at large as gamblers will go to desperate measures to feed their habit even if it means stealing from those close to them.
Let us think about what it means for the state to sponsor gambling. It does so to ultimately profit. Any entity seeking profit strategically places and promotes opportunities for people to obtain its product and/or service. The state is no different when it comes profiting from gambling as it strategically places and promotes opportunities to gamble. This is where the ethical dilemma comes in. If the state seeks to maximize gambling profits it must do so on the backs of the biggest gambling losers and those who are most vulnerable including those with mental illness and those who are already addicted to other substances.
While this is plain to see, it does not seem to matter to those in power whose main concern is the enormous financial gain amassed from gambling rather than focusing on welfare of the citizen and the common good. Last year the revenue from Maryland’s casinos grew 8.2% as they drew $1.75 billion. The Maryland lottery drew in record profits of $576.5 million in 2018.
The gaming money as we have been told goes to things such as education, public health safety, the environment, many other things. Now, last time I checked we as conservatives and those right of center insist that government is not the answer to society’s problems. Take Baltimore City for example. Spending $15,168 per student, Baltimore places fifth place among the 100 largest school systems. Yet the test results continue to be dismal in all categories as the schools provide an unsafe environment for both teachers and students. We have seen funding increases to Baltimore City schools and other jurisdictions through efforts such as the Thornton Commission, but results have been meager at best. Considering this, is there much to celebrate when we hear that gambling revenue is being injected into the education system amongst other parts of the governmental bureaucracy which only lead to crowding out private activity?
My solution is the following. Keep in mind, I am an optimist. I say we gut the lottery and casinos totally. While government officials scream at the thought of losing all the revenue here is what I think will happen. With the money people would be using to gamble they would use it for other things that encourage more productive activity in our economy other than gambling. I am referring to things such as retail shopping, spending money at local restaurants, going to ball games, putting more money towards short- and long-term savings, and more to charity to name a few. I believe all of this would have a significant effect on local businesses and have great impact on communities. Seeing that people have this additional money to dispose of there would be more incentive for industry to come here and contribute to our economy. So, in the end we would have an economy built on substance not chance.
In His Image 