Today in America, Gambling can be a matter of life and death; not just to adults, but to their kids as well. Gambling has been growing since day one and it is still going strong today; and not just through casinos but on the internet as well. People usually turn to gambling because they think it is their one way ticket to being rich or earning some extra cash for themselves, but in reality it could be their one way ticket to the bottom. It may be true that gambling helps the economy, but is helping the economy worth someone’s life. With gambling today, people should know that it is not the answer to any of their problems; it was never the answer to their problems back when it first started in America in the 1600’s, though it may be the answer for the economy now with all of its problems or natural disasters, but it certainly is not the answer to go online and gamble.
Most people today probably don’t know when gambling first started and how it evolved to what it is today. Gambling in America first started in the 1600’s and it is still going strong today with the new technology we have. So far there have been three waves of gambling in the United States. “The first wave began during the colonial period and lasted until the mid-1800s. The second wave commenced at the close of the Civil War and lasted until the early 20th century. The last wave started during the Great Depression and is still going strong” (Dunstan 1). The types of gambling they did in the 1600’s were games that involved cards, dice, and gaming tables. The only type of sport they bet on in this time period was cock-fighting. Also around this time is when they started the famous lottery and it is still going strong today. The lottery today grabs people’s attention wit...
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...son why people ignore gambling in their state is because of the social and economic cost from gambling goes up; this usually happens during bad economic times. Today the economic times are not that great, so this will soon lead to more and more people gambling for more money. With the unemployment rate also down, people want to gamble in order to pay bills or succeed in life. Gambling does not have to be the answer to a political crisis or any type of problem. Gambling is not worth losing everything that makes someone happy in life like their house, car, family or their life.
Works Cited
Dunstan, R. "History of Gambling in the United States." Gambling in California. 1997.
Walker, D. “Overview of the Economic and Social Impacts of Gambling in the United States.” (2011). PDF file.
National Gambling Impact Study Commission. “Internet Gambling.” (1998). PDF file.
Gambling can have adverse effects on the social welfare of many individuals and families. Gambling can increase the number of individuals and families dealing with gambling addiction and exploit individuals and families who are economically disadvantaged. Under such circumstances, not all forms of gambling should be legalized. This is clear evidence that gambling revenue allocated for Texas schools is not worth the negative effects associated with gambling. Education is a valuable source of growth for all citizens in a community, no one in society can truly grow if one part of society is left
Weissman, Robert. A BAD BET Casino Economics and the Politics of Gambling [Online] Available http://prince.essential.org/monitor/hyper/mm1196.04. html,
Phillip, Durgin. "." The Impact of Slots Gaming on the Pennsylvania State Lottery Act 2004-71 (): 6. Print.
Gambling goes way back into 1860’s in Nevada (“History of Gaming in Nevada”). The history began around 1864 to 1931, starting with the prospectors (ibid). The prospectors were the people who brought the gaming/gambling into Nevada and made it known. However, Abraham Lincoln chose Nevada Territory Governor James Nye ,who was against gambling, encouraging the legislature to ban any forms of gaming (ibid). When Nevada became a state in 1864, the first legislature tried to legalize and regulate gambling, but they failed to do that (ibid). Since then, gambling was dramatically reduced with the operators being punished and little to no players (ibid). In 1909, Progressive Movement passed legislation , banning gaming in Nevada (ibid). Later on, a bill was introduced to legalize gambling again, but soon to fail another time (“Bill That Transformed A City”). The Legislature of 1927 considered another bill that was similar, it passed the assembly, but lost by one vote in the Senate (ibid). Around the 1930s , the bill passed the Assembly and Senate. Fred Balzar, an american politician, signed the bill and gambling was finally legal in what was then the nation’s least populous state. Soon after the gambling was legalized, casinos started to build up in Las Vegas.
Gambling has been around for more than a century, it was first developed by the Mesopotamians, then slowly gambling becomes a pop entertainment that is acknowledged and played by many different cultures as an income solution or ways to spend time with family and friends. Gambling has become a recognized social activity spanning to almost all the cultures and historical eras in recorded history (Darbyshire, P., Oster, C., & Carrig, H, 2001). Gambling was thought to be only a harmless game that everyone could enjoy, but in reality, gaming causes a lethal effect on the players, especially the younger generation that is most vulnerable to the effects of gambling. Kids are at the age where they watch and learn everything their parent does. Hence,
Gambling in the industry is fast-growing, multi-million industry in the United States. Gambling could also be traced back to the “Wild, Wild, West.” Gambling is not uncommon at root of many saloon gunfights...
Gambling affects an individual at personal level causing increased incidents of divorce, family violence, child neglect and at community level a problem gambler tend to resort to fraud, embezzlement or tax invasion. An action to fight unhealthy gambling practice at primary and secondary level will further help reduce the major burden of disease in Australia and improve the health of public.
It could easily be said that gambling is as American as apple pie. Gambling has shaped American history since its beginning. Lotteries were used by the First Continental Congress to help finance the Revolutionary War. Many of our founding fathers, such as Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and George. Washington, have sponsored private lotteries.
Gambling has been around since 2300 B.C. It has its positive and negative effects; it also has somewhat of a positive impact on the economy. It stimulates most communities by creating jobs and generates tax revenue for state and local governments. The gambling industry in “2002 and the commercial casino industry provided 350,000 jobs in the United States” (americangaming.org). Even though gambling can bring a lot of economic growth to the economy there is still an argument going on today whether it is a great choice to legalize it everywhere.
Previous anti-gambling arguments focused on the perceived immorality and considered gambling as a sin against God, the society and family. Modern arguments on the other hand, consider gambling as a diseases rather than as a sin. This means that criticism for gambling is directed at the gambling industry, which is condemned for taking advantage of the weaknesses of the gamblers. The opposition to gambling is because it increases family disruptions, domestic violence, increase crime rate and increased use of drugs. However, when gambling is done in moderation there are positive consequences that outweigh the bad consequences. This paper will argue that gambling is a moral business model.
From the time the Europeans first landed on the Atlantic shore, lotteries have been a part of the American society. According to Will Spink, most states are currently operating a state lottery despite its bleak history in the U.S. (Spink 1). Since 1983, North Carolina has introduced lottery bills in the legislature every year (NC Christian 15). North Carolina Governor, Mike Easley, favors a lottery for increasing revenues for education (Analysis 2). However lucrative state lotteries appear on the surface, they create even more moral and financial difficulties for citizens, and this should encourage states to look at other means of resources instead of legalized gambling.
“Las Vegas looks the way you'd imagine heaven must look at night” states New York Times best selling novelist, Chuck Palahniuk. (1) He has a point. Las Vegas is, in a way, an American Mecca -- a national tourist hotspot filled with resorts, gambling, shopping, dining, drinking, sporting, nightlife and most other things entertainment. Las Vegas is the fastest growing city and fastest growing job market in the United States. (source?) The city, a sort of massive adult carnival, is made up of elements largely alien to its native desert setting. For one, Vegas welcomes almost 40 million visitors per year, a number nearly seventy times the population of the city; but also its drinking water and food are largely imported and a series of hotels are modeled after famous cities, buildings and monuments from around the world. (2) While Vegas is a melting pot of different forms of entertainment, food and clothing, gambling has been inherently a part of Vegas before the brightly lit signs and extravagant resorts existed. The gaming industry in Las Vegas, which dates back to the days before the city was officially founded, is much more than just a piece of “Sin City’s” multi-faceted entertainment front: the industry has rescued and sustained its city’s economy, and continues to foster its fiscal growth and urban expansion – gambling has been an essential part of Vegas’ success.
Gambling addiction is an issue found in numerous areas where gambling is legal. People who are addicted to gambling, also know as problem gamblers, face many health risks including depression, suicidal thoughts, loss of sleep, loss of appetite, migraine and anxiety in addition to marriage breakdown, problems at work and bankruptcy (9). About 2 percent of adults are thought to be problem gamblers (1). In today’s society this costly addiction is not often considered to be a common problem among those who gamble. Only a small amount of states in the U.S. give enough attention toward this rising problem of people that are sometimes even willing to commit crimes just to aid their addiction. In the past our government has sought out a few solutions that help those who have developed an addiction and prevent a further increase in the number of people becoming addicted. Personally, my outlook on the problem is that it needs a better solution. I think that a higher funding to gambling addiction clinics, more ordinance and restriction laws, and more prevention and awareness programs should bee brought into consideration in order to lower the amount of people who become addict to gambling.
For centuries, people have indulged in different types of gambling: poker, horse races, bingo, lottery, and slot machines. Gambling has seduced any and almost everyone between the ages of sixteen and ninety years old. Before turning eighteen, the legal age of casino and horse race admittance, those younger make monetary bets on football and high school stunts. Gambling is even more prevalent today than it was yesterday with the added attraction of on-line casinos, offering jackpot equivalent to twenty years salary in exchange for a credit card / debit card number. Gambling was suppressed in the 1920's as a result of Prohibition and because of this will forever lure people into its taboo trap. Gambling as sport is hard to resist because it offers immediate gratification. Not only is there a chance that you may quadruple the amount of money that you lay down, a literal payoff, but there is also a feeling of hope, an alternate limbo between reality and fantasy that can be translated into a sort of mental payoff. The question is: is it all about the money?
There is a major issue to be dealt with, which is spreading with little regulatory oversight and no effective screens against participation by the young and the vulnerable. Internet gambling represents one of the fastest growing segments of online activity with more than seven hundred web sites now providing users the opportunity to wager everything from casino games to sporting events. According to internet research firms, the industry will pull in $1.5 billion in world-wide revenues this year. That figure is expected to hit at least $6 billion by 2006. Also, a survey conducted by the Pew Internet and American Life Project concluded that $4.5 million Americans have gambled online and that 1 million gamble online everyday.