Gambling

Introduction

Gambling is a huge problem in the United States today. According to a 2005 survey, "Two-thirds of Americans have gambled, and 80% approve of gambling as a means of collecting taxes. Approximately six percent of adults, twelve million individuals, however, meet the criteria of a pathological gambler. Another four to six million American's have less significannot

, yet serious, problems with their gambling (www.gamblingdilemma.org/)." In the book Gambling, by James Haley, we will see how even in the early centuries, gambling became a problem. With this book, the question arises, if gambling was a problem even in the early centuries of the world why is it still not outlawed today?

Make no mistake about it, gambling is in no way beneficial to our society today and has all the properties that lead it to become a compulsive disorder. We learn how it's a compulsive disorder in the book, Best Possible Odds, through John, a recovering compulsive gambler. By sharing John's story, I will show how gambling is no way beneficial to our society, and how it leads our American families to become separated. In the article "Gambling by Underage College Students", ill show you how gambling's increasing population is not in the casino's but on the Internet. This article shows how Internet gambling is not only a problem for those who are over the age of twenty-one but is becoming a serious problem for underage college students who gamble illegally. This can only lead underage youth to become more at risk of developing a pathological compulsive disorder. Many of us wonder why compulsive gamblers keep returning to casinos even when they know they are harming themselves and their families? With the book Out of Control by Linda Bayer, we will better understand the mind set of an compulsive gambler. Gaining a better knowledge of how a gambler acts, will aid us in helping gambler's compulsive ways. Not only can gambling lead to losing things that are meaningful to us and corrupt American living, it is also morally wrong to gamble. In Bible scriptures, they tell us to stay away from attempts to get rich quick and that money is the root of all evil. If we continue to ignore God's teachings about gambling then his wrath will be poured out on our nation. The use of my expert source had the greatest impact of why we should never step foot into a casino. My grandmother and grandfather have been married for fifty years but have faced many hardships in staying together. The biggest hardship my grandmother had to overcome was my grandfather's addictive gambling habits he developed throughout their marriage. Through my grandmother, well see the struggles she had to face while staying married to a compulsive gambler With the help of my sources, I want to prove to my reader, why gambling leads to a morally corrupt society. The leaders of America today love casinos, lotteries and internet casinos since it creates jobs and lowers taxes. This essentially generates revenue but leads to millions of Americans developing gambling disorders, causing them to lose the things that mean the most to them. If we don't realize it's a sin to gamble and we start caring more about generating revenue, then the citizens of America that will develop a destructive compulsive gambling disorder, then were taking a huge "risk" of our society heading in the wrong direction.

Body

According to historical records, gambling has been around since the early stages of American society. For example, gambling artifacts have been recovered in 2300 BC, from ancient China, India, Egypt, and Rome. A set of ivory dice dating from before 1500 BC were discovered from Thebes, while specific writings mentioning gambling were found on a tablet in the Pyramid of Cheops. Even as early as the 14th century we have some of the first findings of gambling becoming outlawed by King Henry VIII of England. (Haley). He did so when he discovered that his soldiers were spending more time gambling than working on drills and marksmanship. The gambling casinos of today have come a long way. When America became an independent country in 1776, the government at the time used gambling as a way to maintain large sums of money. Even during the early stages of gambling's increasing popularity it became out of control, with grown adults gambling instead of working to provide for their families. Nevada, the capital of today's gambling world, actually made it illegal from 1850 to 1910 to gamble since it seemed like the only solution to stop the gambling chaos at the present time. However, it was re-sanctioned in 1931, and Las Vegas began its rise as the greatest gambling phenomenon of the world (Haley). If gambling was a problem, even in the early centuries of the world, why is it still not outlawed today? This question has a simple answer, Revenue. Casinos and all gambling related events generate huge profits, resulting in more jobs and decreased taxes. In America of 2006, we as a society, are more interested in generating profits, then caring for the millions of Americans each year who fall into addictive gambling habits.

"For gambling to be considered pathological, rather than recreational or professional, it must be persistent, recurrent and disruptive to the individual's life (Bayer)." Understanding the mindset of an pathological gambler should make America realize why gambling should be outlawed. A pathological gamblers mindset sounds like the following, "I find them almost irresistible. It's like I lose my freewill when I'm around them. It' s an obsession. Honestly , I don't know why I gamble, it doesn't feel good and has ruined my marriage, killed my family, and cost me a job. I have no idea why I gamble, but id be willing to bet all of last years winnings that you can't figure it out either." says John a recovering pathological gambler who shares his story in the book Best Possible Odds. Like millions of Americans, John started to gamble to get away from the house for a little and have some fun. However, John over time, developed a compulsive gambling disorder that came to the point at which it was persistent, recurrent, and uncontrollable. John was tempted to gamble daily on his way to work while passing the casinos. Most of the time he would try to earn his salary not from work, but by risking all he had in the casinos. By risking it all, he lost it all, including being sixty thousand dollars in debt, his wife divorcing him, and losing custody of his two children. If we don't make regulations more strict or outlaw gambling, millions of American's each year will end up like John. John, now twenty one years of abstinence from gambling sums it up