The news was reporting on the revenue being generated in Maryland by the sports books. Yes, by gambling. Being a bookie is now a respectable full time occupation. You can even get a college degree in that, calling it statistics. Currently there are 23 sports booking companies operating in Maryland. The state realized a profit of 5.6 million dollars in August. The profits go into the future fund. That fund is, you guessed it, for the children, for education. I haven't read the report on the administrative costs for this program but have heard the schools can't afford air conditioning. I'm guessing 5.6 million isn't enough to even buy a few window units or whatever. Instead, they just let the kids out early. But the "future" fund is, as advertised, for the future.
I'm just saying it strikes me funny to hear them talking about bookies and all that on the news as a positive thing. I realize this is the 21st century, it's all good dog, but I remember when bookies were associated with criminals activities. Well, because betting on sports was illegal. Not that a great number of people weren't doing that, they were indeed, but it wasn't a source of revenue for the state. I'm guessing it was in Nevada though. Still, Nevada back in the day wasn't for everyone, until they changed it up, made it family friendly and all. The whole thing was started by who? Yeah, it was mob guy, a career criminal. When I was growing up the word on the street was the barber took bets. I can't say whether that was the truth or not but that's what I heard. I do know a lot of bald guys were in the barber shop on Saturday morning and they weren't getting a haircut.
Yes it's a funny thing to me as I remember when we had punch cards and thought that was risky business. New York state was the first to ban gambling in 1821. Most of that remained in effect until the 1970's. But a few shop owners always had a punch board or two under the counter. Anything from a quarter to a dollar was common enough. Yes, some were rigged but generally speaking I think the ones I knew about where at least fair, if not strictly legal. I heard about card games and such but never participated in any of that, I didn't have money to lose. Bingo at the catholic church was about it. The priest didn't draw the numbers though, I guess it was to maintain their integrity.
As the times change so does the morals and ethics of the society. Gambling is a moral issue. The state isn't concerned with the morality anymore, just the revenue generated. The state does include some programs to help those with a gambling problem, similar to programs to help alcoholics and drug addicts. For the gamblers the state does hire some college educated statisticians to educate you on the odds. For instance when it comes to Mega-Millions your odds are about 1 in 350 million. It's fun when you purchase that ticket for a couple bucks but when you start selling your home to buy more tickets, not such a good thing. I read where one of those statisticians explained if you were to purchase 100,000 of those tickets you would increase your overall odds of winning the grand prize by 1/10th of one percent. Your odds don't really increase by 100,000 times.
So gambling has gone mainstream now, a normal thing, no stigma attached to any of that. A perfectly respectable activity. It's advertised heavily on radio and television. There are catchy jingles, celebrity endorsements and incentives to participate. You can get 500 dollars in free bets when you spend five for new members. Yes, you can join, become a member of the community and enjoy all the benefits of that, just like belonging to the church or a veterans organization. Nothing wrong with gambling. That's the message.
It does leave us with a question however. Is it alright to sacrifice morals and ethics for a worthy cause? Should we, as a society, promote all that. It just seems a bit incongruous to me. We are removing the death penalty for criminals committing the most heinous of acts proclaiming the moral high ground. It's just not morally acceptable in a modern society. We are also insisting on a woman's right to "choose." I'm just saying, I'm seeing quite a mixed message in all of that. Blame it on my Christian upbringing if you will, but Jesus threw out the money changers from the temple.
The government establishes the morals and ethics of a society. It does so by codifying what activities are allowed and what are not allowed. Seems simplistic doesn't it. But that is how it works. Whether the citizens of that society comply with that is another topic of discussion altogether. Those writing our constitution where well aware of one thing, you don't have to be religious to be moral and act in an ethical way. That's the reason for the first amendment. Again, compliance by the citizens is another topic altogether. Does the decline in moral and ethical behavior reflect the decline in the society? If you trust in history, it sure does. I'd suggest the decrease in moral and ethical behavior reflects society in general. In a system where "we the people" make the laws could it be any other way? Is freedom the fatal flaw? Now there's something to think about.
What we teach.
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