Is legalized gambling a boon or bust?

As legalized casino and sports gambling gets the okay from states across the union, the never-ending question always arises again. Is legalized gambling good or bad; both for people and the states the gambling takes place in? We’ll look at both sides of the issue in my column today.

There is a small but consistent group of people in the U.S. who contend that gambling has always been bad (immoral) and always will be because of the attempt to get something for nothing (coveting something that isn’t yours). This is a religious perspective supported in some fashion from verses in the Bible. Because of some people’s interpretation of the meaning of these verses in the Bible, any form of gambling is prohibited all the time. It’s the concept of “any form of gambling “ that causes conflict and opposition between different groups of Americans.

Millions of people hold to the belief that life is a gamble in itself. In fact, it’s such a gamble that it’s impossible NOT to gamble, either with your life, finances and future or the lives, finances and future of those we know or love. When we get up in the morning, we don’t know what lies ahead. Many people die during that brief period of being awake, even though they didn’t intend to or have any idea that they would. Sudden fatal attacks, accidents, vehicle and plane crashes, and the like ends the lives of many who had to clue this would be their last day on earth when they woke up this morning. This is the biggest gamble and we take it every day of our lives.

When we buy a house, a car or invest in real estate or the stock market we’re doing the same thing. Those who support gambling ask the question as to why it’s any different betting on a stock to rise than it is to bet on the Nebraska football team covering the spread on a Saturday afternoon.

The economic issues connected to gambling are something that can never be overlooked. Nebraska today is sort of an island which allows some types of gambling but doesn’t allow casino or sports gambling. We’re surrounded by states that do. Iowa, South Dakota, Colorado, and Kansas all have either legalized casinos, sports betting or both and the monies they garner from these enterprises fuel their economies. You can go across the river from Omaha to Council Bluffs Iowa any day of the week and find many more cars in the casino parking lots from Nebraska than any other state. So the proponents of legalized gambling say that Nebraska’s refusal to legalize it isn’t keeping people from gambling, it’s just forcing them to take their dollars out of state and in doing so, contribute to the coffers of those states instead of our own.

Opponents also believe that legalized gambling ruins the moral fabric of the community but cities who have embraced it have seen far more positive benefits than negative ones. Las Vegas, Nevada, once the only place in America you could go and make a legal bet, has seen their city grow and prosper because of gamblers coming there from all over the world since gambling was legalized in 1931.

It’s understandable that some people are always going to be against legalized gambling because of the moral implications of it but again, those in favor of gambling say simply to that group of people, “if you’re opposed to gambling, don’t do it but don’t tell me what I can and cannot do because in the end we’re all responsible for our own behavior.”

That may be a cop-out but it certainly is also true and it’s up to us to decide whether or not we are somebody else’s keeper or only responsible for ourselves. If it’s the latter, both sides win. If it’s the former, we have one minority group dictating to everyone else in society what they can or cannot do.

This argument will never end but the outcome of the argument will.