Posted on 01/14/2012 11:41:18 AM PST by appeal2
Many States are scrambling to build new casinos. They mistakenly believe that this is a surefire prescription for more tax revenue and jobs. They’ve bought into the false Las Vegas Myth–that if you build it and it has a blackjack table, a roulette wheel and a craps table–they will come. However, Vegas is looking more and more like Detroit, yet another failed US city. Do politicians believe that encouraging and subsidizing these parasitic industries is going to build wealth? As libertarians we are not against citizens starting and running gambling enterprises. They’ve been doing it since the before the Babylonians and they’re going to be doing long after we’re gone.
What we object to is the unholy alliance of government and big gambling. It is corrupt and it does not serve the public. Selling mega-casinos as a panacea for economic growth is completely fraudulent. The overall wealth of a society that engages in governmental sponsored gambling enterprises actually goes down. While there is an increase in taxe revenues, there’s also a resulting decrease in consumer spending and an increase in social costs, which are never factored into the rigged gambling equation.
While on occasion we have unsuccessfully tested our luck at the tables, we all know that gambling is a vice that can destroy families, increase crime and harm society. Therefore, the government should stay out of it, whether it’s running lotteries, booking sports/horse bets or embracing casinos as a fiscal cure all.
Most Americans have no moral objection to gambling. The only question left is why in most states ownership of the industry is by law restricted to certain ethnic groups and crony government scams.
I refuse to patronize an industry that I am forbidden from owning equity in.
Time to deregulate the gambling industry.
Then neither is a Cadillac.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well, you’re starting to get it. Lets try this again.
You can’t sell a cadillac to a starving ethiopian refugee because_____?
You can’t sell a vegas trip to a starving ethiopian refugee because_____?
You fill in the blanks.
Here’s a hint for ya. Money is not wealth either. Money in the savings account is a TALLY of surplus. Surplus is production minus consumption.
When a person chooses to waste a portion of their surplus on entertainment, they are not producing wealth. Remember the phrase “bread and circus” from the days of ancient rome?
I think I’ve given you plenty of hints now.
“It is time to think of the government as the new Mafia, running numbers (excuse me Lotto & Powerball)...”
The big problem with government is that its payout is worse than the mob’s. The Mafia used to pay out 85% of gross revenues to winners; the state lotteries average less than 60%. Winners of big lotto jackpots then get the privilege of paying income taxes on their winnings, which bring the payout down to something like 40%. Oh, and the state lottos are even more fraudulent about their numbers games than the mob was. E.g., when the mob promised a payout of, say, $10000, the winner got $10000, not the discounted present value of $500/year paid out over 20 years.
Well, if you suffer from di-somey X syndrome, then “shopping” might qualify.
Nah. They just want make it easier for people to gamble in their own jurisdictions so they can siphon off a chunk of the take. It really is a sign of how low we've let our country sink.
We got just a few of those video slot machines. That kind of gambling is illegal in our state but everyone gets around it. Bars have those machines marked “amusement only” and they pay off under the table. The way it works is that only regular customers, or members in the case of a private club, can play for real. If you run a bunch of credits up, you signal the bartender and they write down what you had and clear the machine. You come in the next day and pick up your winnings.
We always had several guys bitching that if the state would just make gambling legal, we'd have it made. It was so unfair that the tribe could have our local casino, but we couldn't have legal gambling at The Lodge. I never argued with them much about that, but suggested The Eagles statewide try and lobby for an exemption from the gambling laws for fraternal organizations like ourselves.
I realized that if every bar in town had legal gambling, none of us would gain anything. That's the way it works nationally. Once it's everywhere, it's just a drain on the economy. It seems unfair to just have gambling in a few areas, and see those cities or states kick ass, but at least someone comes out ahead on it that way.
I was all for the tribal gaming and state lottery when those came up for vote. I'd probably vote against them if I had it to do over.
Excellent point. When people didn’t have disposable income and they were less mobile, they found other ways to entertain themselves.
Excellent point. When people didn’t have disposable income and they were less mobile, they found other ways to entertain themselves.
Excellent point. When people didn’t have disposable income and they were less mobile, they found other ways to entertain themselves.
Excellent point. When people didn’t have disposable income and they were less mobile, they found other ways to entertain themselves.
Only 2 ways to create wealth. Manufacture a product or extract something from nature.
Only 2 ways to create wealth. Manufacture a product or extract something from nature.
Only 2 ways to create wealth. Manufacture a product or extract something from nature.
If you want to boil it down to the most basics...
Wealth is plentiful food, clothing, shelter...and methods to acquire them for minimal exertion. Everything else is just means to this end. Energy is just a means to obtain the 3 basics with as little exertion as possible. Transportation is just means to these ends as well. So is technology and manufacturing. An economy is just a mechanism by which people specialize in various tasks that are necessary to create the 3 basics. Those who contribute more, get more. In theory.
Gee, thanks, Professor.
You can’t sell a cadillac to a starving ethiopian refugee because_____?
Because he is not a participant in the wealth creating market. Apart from distance, he is forced to participate in a commodity based, low margin economy, hobbled by despotism. His economy lacks the resources and know-how to manufacture advanced automobiles, or much else of high value. The poor Etheopian guy just isn’t a participant because he has nothing to trade. The fact that he can’t buy a car has nothing to do with whether or not the production and consumption of automobiles is a wealth producing activity, and whether a new Cadillac is wealth. Sadly, that car won't stay shiny forever. As it’s used, the wealth in the car is depleted until, someday, it meets the crusher. That doesn't mean producing and consuming that car wasn't an exercise in creating and productively utilizing wealth in a fashion that beat all other alternatives for those involved.
You can’t sell a vegas trip to a starving ethiopian refugee because_____?
Because he is not a participant in the wealth creating market. Apart from distance, he is forced to participate in a commodity based, low margin economy, hobbled by despotism. His economy lacks the resources and know-how to build and staff gleaming casinos, or much else of high value. The poor Etheopian guy just isn’t a participant because he has nothing to trade. The fact that he can’t gamble has nothing to do with whether or not the production and consumption of casino floors is a wealth producing activity, and whether a blackjack table, staffed with a dealer, is wealth. Sadly, the joy of the casino experience won’t last forever. The two things necessary to enjoy it, time and money, pass. Eventually it is time to go home. That doesn't mean building and staffing the casino wasn't an exercise in creating and productively utilizing wealth in a fashion that beat all other alternatives for those involved.
And a paradoxical thing about entertainment as a wealth producer verses things, is that entertainment, and the memories it produces, tends to bring lasting happiness more than things. People carry priceless memories of trips they took and shows they see that enrich their lives up to the moment of death. I would never trade the memories from my travels for the money I spent to take the trips, and neither would you. I wasn’t wasting anything by entertaining myself; I was building the kind of wealth that matters. The airlines, hotels, restaurants, and entertainment venues along the way contributed to my wealth and their own wealth at the same time. It is not a zero sum game, as anybody with the most rudimentary understanding of economics understands. There has to be balance, of course. Overspending on the here and now can cause serious problems. But it is the guy that stashes away every penny, while carping about how those enjoying their lives are “wasting” that is truly squandering his most important asset: time.
You fill in the blanks.
The blanks you wish filled in shows you’ve fallen for a Keynesian trope. The idea that wealth creation is driven by consumer’s wherewithal to buy things is backwards. Wealth is created by production, not demand. Demand is always unlimited. It can only be satisfied by production. Bringing demand in line with supply is the job of producers, not consumers. Collectively, all production is what brings wealth and brings consumers needs and desires in line with the possibility of acquisition and consumption. This is the primary reason that Keynesian pump priming is nonsense. Handing people money to spend, that has been taken from others, creates no wealth. Building and staffing a casino that people desire to gamble in does produce wealth, for the producer and the consumer.
Here’s a hint for ya. Money is not wealth either. Money in the savings account is a TALLY of surplus. Surplus is production minus consumption.
So by that reasoning, a guy with millions of dollars in the bank is not wealthy. He just has more credits than debits. That’s really deep, man. What would I do without our hints?
When a person chooses to waste a portion of their surplus on entertainment, they are not producing wealth.
Waste? Seriously? All money spent on entertainments is wasted? Why, because it could have gone to the grave with the person instead? I think maybe I need to be in a different class.
Where in the world did you ever get the silly notion that the production of entertainment is not the production of wealth? Are all the movie theaters in the country, all the television networks and stations, all the roller rinks, all the ski resorts, not wealth? Are we not collectively richer for the behavior that results in their production and utilization? Wouldn’t life suck on a massive scale, and hardly be worth living, without all of that “wasting” behavior? Wouldn’t we all be poorer?
One of the greatest and most prolific producers of wealth in this country is a little entertainment firm called the NFL. Have you noticed the enormous pleasure and joy (wealth) they are able to create simply by having men run around on a field and hit each other once a week in the autumn? They create so much wealth that a national holiday has been spawned where vast swaths of people gather to consume it. If you tell me that isn’t wealth production, but just people squandering wealth on a silly game, I will have to conclude that you are hopelessly obtuse and really don’t understand the topic.
Remember the phrase “bread and circus” from the days of ancient rome?
Yes, it’s been used around here ad nauseum (over 4000 times believe it or not), usually by people attempting to appear learned and erudite, while informing us that some fun activity or another is beneath them and portends the end of Western Civilization. It is rather tiresome.
I think I’ve given you plenty of hints now.
How kind of you.
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