Friendship

A few months ago, I accompanied a friend to a local web shop. I was amazed to see at least 40 people engaged in internet betting and paying out huge sums of money to the cashiers. The amazing thing was-for every one person who left, two came in.

Mr. Chairman, Fellow Toastmasters & Guests

In recent times, the issue of gambling and the lottery have heated up in The Bahamas. Some propose it as a means to fund our ailing public school system, to generate funding for sports and to generate needed revenue for the government. Yes a national lottery would make lot of money, but how would you feel if your home was hurt as a result?

Any way you roll the dice, gambling is a bad bet.

I'm totally opposed to the lottery and gambling in general. There are numerous reasons to reject its implementation here in the Bahamas, of which I am only going to scratch the surface with 4 points.

Firstly, Gambling is a bad bet statistically.

What are the odds of you can even winning in a lottery? Most Bahamians gamble in some form but 95% of them lose more than they bet. Winners get back less than half of what they bet. No one in his or her right mind should invest in anything with such a loss record. Statistics show that a person is seven times more likely to be hit by lightning than to win a typical National lottery! The typical odds against winning a national lottery are five to ten million to one. In other words, you would have to buy fifty lottery tickets every week to win on the average once in every 5000 years. In short, the chances of winning the lottery are about the same if you don't play!

Gambling advertisements portrayed the activity as a harmless recreation, but news reports give a grim account of gambling's ill effects:

An Iowa teenager, despondent over blackjack gambling debts, killed himself.

A church secretary in Minnesota stole $186,000 from the church to finance her casino and lottery obsession.

A 73-year-old retired Colorado man gambled away his entire life savings -- $63,000 -- at nickel slot machines.

According to experts, an estimated 5 million to 10 million Americans are afflicted with serious gambling problems. The rate of divorce, child abuse and neglect, bankruptcy, theft, job loss, attempted suicide and other destructive behaviors among these individuals is astronomically high. Surveys show that many Bahamians hold contradictory views related to gambling. We are increasingly tolerant of casino gambling and a national lottery, but are highly intolerant of crime, yet crime is always a companion of casino gambling. Gambling attracts unsavory elements such as pathological gamblers, who "tend to engage in forgery, theft, prostitution, embezzlement, drug dealing and property crimes to pay off gambling debts."

Mark Twain was right when he said, "The best toss of the dice is to toss them away!"

Secondly, the lottery is a bad bet economically.

This shows in two ways:

1. Empty promises for schools.

Lotteries are often promoted as a way to boost school funding. However, according to a study by Money Magazine, countries & states WITHOUT lotteries actually spend a greater percentage of their budget on education. Further, since 1990, spending devoted to education has actually decreased in lottery states, while it increased in non-lottery states during the same period. It was concluded that "Regardless of when or where the lottery operated, education spending declined once a country or state put a lottery into effect. Hence, you should recognize that the hype about helping our schools is an empty promise. It's a political ploy.

2. Empty pockets for legitimate businesses

The gambling industry is a big leech that sucks millions of dollars from legitimate local businesses and the economy. Money received by the gambling industry means less business for the grocer, the gas station, local restaurants, clothing stores, vendors, etc.

According to John Fonville, author "The Lottery: A Good or Bad Bet, "In areas where Casinos come to town, businesses surrounding them fold up. Gambling drains the economy. The only ones that thrive are the Pawn Shops where gambling addicts sell their last worldly possession for another shot at the jackpot".

Thirdly, the lottery is a bad bet for the poor.

Study after study reveals that portions of the population who spend the most on lotteries are the poorest of the poor. Why? It seems like the only answer for them. Here are some more shocking findings.

Gambling preys on the desperation of the poor and exploits whatever financial means they have to live upon. The National Gambling Impact Study Commission in North America found that those with incomes less than $10,000 spend more on lottery tickets than any other income group. Leaders in the gambling industry understand this well and actually target the poor with the lottery. A billboard advertising