Bored Druid ThreadFollow

To be fair, I only rated the posts that were really asking for it.

I dunno. Has Alma ever made severely inappropriate personal attacks to people when debates don't go his way? I've certainly never seen him do it. Varus, I'm willing to believe would do something like that.

lol, it's past the point where Raw talking can be entertaining. Now it just reminds me of everything wrong with humanity.

And, honestly, the thread wasn't even entertaining. Plus, it's not karma camping if its deserved. :P

It's karma camping when I've asked you not to.

RAW's not a bad guy, he just can't handle even a little bit of criticism and immediately retreats into you live in your moms basement insults when he feels threatened. He has made good posts, but he's made enough bad posts and trolled enough that people immediately jump on him. That's a situation of his own creation though, if he reacted with self deprecation or good humour, things would change. I think he occasionally tries, but because he's dug himself deep enough, it would be a long road to hoe.

Generally, I don't see much justification for them. Gambling addictions are much easier to fall into than most others with the potential to destroy lives, and I'm not sure I see what good they do.

I think I need more specifics then. Are we talking about gambling cities or gambling states? NJ, for instance, bans gambling in general. But in Atlantic County (Atlantic City, mostly), they can issue casino licenses. That has made it a tourist attraction, for that reason, which brings a lot of people there.

Problem is, gambling-based economies are REALLY vulnerable. In good years, they do bring in a lot of money. In bad years, they suck a TON out of the state. NJ has been dumping cash into AC for the past decade to try and get people back there. But the problem is that gambling is the attraction. Everything else relies on it, not the other way around. You use the casinos to get people there, so they'll spend money in stores and restaurants. It makes saving the city a huge money sink. There just isn't much else you can do to glamorize it.

That's actually led to some other big issues (including some civil rights debates) because casinos are such a high risk business that laws tend to introduce loopholes to favor them. For instance, NJ banned smoking in places of business that were not tobacco shops or places that generated x% of their revenue from smoking or tobacco, due to second hand smoke. The law excluded casinos, for fear that it would limit the number of gamblers on the floor. Problem is, the law was passed to protect other customers, and more importantly employees, from second-hand smoke (essentially says your boss has no right to make you inhale smoke). So it actually is a big problem that they have these violations. And there's a lot more where those come from, because there's such a high interest in keeping the casino floor a minimally controlled environment.

Las Vegas is going strong because they attract people world/nation wide, so population of gamers isn't an issue. No one else will be competing with them for a long, long time.

The amount of revenue generated by making gaming legal statewide would probably be less than forming a gaming city. But gaming cities WILL crash and burn at some point. And because their revenue was depended on by the state, you'll spend decades rebuilding them. That's where any connection between casinos and crime rates lie, I'd wager. After the local economy dips, you'll end up with a huge number of unemployed workers (either laid off from casinos or other local establishments), and it's even worse if casinos collapse completely. They aren't often bought out--the casino owners have more to gain by concentrating their guests, rather than spreading them thin between buildings.

So casinos are kinda a gamble for the gov't, ironically. They can be great in periods of plenty, but a huge burden in periods of want. I'm more inclined to say its better to focus those funds in less variable industries. Because a gambling city IS going to require state aid at some point.

Honestly, the biggest issue with gambling addictions is that they are more cerebral than a substance addiction. You can't distance yourself from the act--you start turning everything into a bet, a game. You can keep from becoming an alcoholic by drinking in moderation and not allowing yourself to rely on it--that's easy to control. But it's much harder to fight an addiction that you are subconsciously introducing into every aspect of your life.

TL;DR: Gambling can generate a lot of revenue, but it can also suck a lot out of the state. And since they provide a lot of excess when you don't need it, but a lot of burden when you do, it can be rough. That said, this only really applies to casinos/gambling towns. If we are just talking casual gaming, then *shrug*.

I wish we had casinos, but it seems like we only get the online ones and their commercials on TV are annoying the crap out of me. Especially since they're all called the same thing. Always Bet-something, or something-Bet.

Shallow Theo, shallow. Better drown it in a deep pool of booze.

Since when is shooting goats with a machine gun a better alternative for sex than *************

I suck at *************

Plus, new experiences! I'll probably not shoot goats, though. Whaddya think about them Talibans?

Well, no. I'm too much of a pacifist to do that. I'd be a terrible terrible soldier (And the only reason I'm not saying the worst ever is that I'm in decent shape).

Edited, May 7th 2012 4:55pm by Aethien

I didn't, you're welcome.