Cincinnati is voting today on whether or not to have a casino. I indicated that I voted “yes” because of all the revenue it will generate, though I’m not sure if I made the right decision. On my blogger blog, Doug Ward commented on his opposition to casinos, and I think what he says deserves serious consideration from voters:
I like the title of your post. I often struggle with which way to vote myself.
But one issue I didn’t struggle with this time was the casino issue. I’m passionately opposed, and I want to explain why (in case there are any other Ohio readers who haven’t voted yet).
The money brought in by casinos isn’t some sort of magical free money. What would that money be used for if it weren’t going to casinos? Maybe it would go to a child’s college fund, or someone’s retirement fund, or be invested in a business, or help pay the bills or feed a family. Whatever place that money would go, it would do more to grow the economy and promote social stability if it weren’t going to a casino.
Not enough is said about the social costs of casinos. There’s an excellent article about this in the current issue of _First Things_. When a casino opens up someplace, the number of people addicted to gambling doubles, crime increases, the number of suicides increases, there are more divorces…..
The article gets into how the slot machines are designed to be incredibly addictive. It turns out that a very large percentage of casino revenues come from people with gambling problems–people who wouldn’t necessarily have gambling problems if the casino weren’t there. While those people are sitting at the slot machines, what’s happening to their kids?