Gambling Our Way to Economic Salvation
Casino gambling is nothing new to most of us. In fact, it has been around since the dawn of civilization. Archeologists have unearthed countless gambling paraphernalia used in long lost and forgotten civilizations of the ancient world proving once and for all that gambling is one of mankind's oldest forms of entertainment.
Today, casino gambling has become a multi-billion dollar industry that has acquired respectability, shedding off over the years its notorious image of being an instrument of organized crime that is used in laundering ill-gotten wealth. Playing poker in dimly-lit and smoked-filled cellars is now a thing of the past and has largely given way to sprawling themed casino resorts that offer state-of-the-art entertainment par excellence for the whole family.
Despite the many objections on the social impacts of gambling, people from different sectors advocate gambling on a regulated basis as a development tool. History is replete with examples of many cities around the world that have risen out of their economic depression because of gambling. A classic example is Las Vegas, which grew out of the barren desolation of the Nevada Desert to become a sprawling self-sustaining glitzy, classy city. Within a period of just fifty years, the booming casino gambling industry became the staple of the economy and Nevada was able to lift itself up from economic depression, thanks to gambling tax revenues. A more recent case much similar to Las Vegas is Atlantic City, which rose from decay and economic stagnation when the city decided to legalize gambling in the 1970s and invited investors to put up gambling casinos. In due time, Atlantic City joined Las Vegas as a progressive gambling hub of America.
Casino gambling was also responsible for improving the lot of Native American tribes and reversing the effects of centuries of neglect and poverty. Because they are recognized as sovereign nations, Native American tribes are able to put up casinos within their reservation lands. Out of the gambling profits, many of these tribes were able to finance civil works, irrigation systems, education, health care and other services which were otherwise nonexistent before in their land. Development funds were unavailable before then because no banking institution would like to risk lending any money to the tribes because the law prohibits them to foreclose tribal reservation lands in case of default in debt payment. Gambling proceeds enabled tribes to begin repairing themselves and their land.
To be clear, gambling is not the perfect industry, nor the perfect tool for economic salvation. But in the face of the long shadow of abject poverty and all the attendant miseries attached to it, gambling appears in the horizon as the only rational solution.