Gambling is the betting of money on a random outcome. It includes bingo, lotteries, some card games, slot machines and of course many other games that are played in casinos. It is what people consider a personal choice and a form of entertainment. People should not be denied an activity that they enjoy, legalizing gambling would bypass that statement; as for the regulating, addition to the age restriction, government should prevent fraudulent acts from taking place and protect the players.
Gambling can create jobs and help the country’s economy; however, the economic benefits are exaggerated and jobs created are usually low paid. It creates jobs in casinos such as security guards and dealers. The jobs are not only in casinos, there are also in hotels and many tourist locations. Gambling is also often used to raise money for the states and good causes by taxing the winnings. However, George Molyneaux, coach of the Scotland schools debating team stated, “The economic benefits of gambling are exaggerated. They generally created low paid jobs for local people and it is immoral for the states to raise money by exploring stupidity and greed”. This states that jobs created by casinos and gambling are low paid and do not do any good. This statement is not true because casinos actually helped to regenerate places with unemployment, such as Atlantic City in New Jersey. According to American Gaming Association “In 2002, the commercial casino industry provided more than 350000 jobs in the United States, with wages and benefits totaling $ 11 billion. An estimated 400000 additional jobs are supported by casino industry spending”. In one year that is a lot of employment. And the paychecks aren’t that low. That is more than an elementary school teacher income which is $24,030. “In 2004, the median earnings of a casino security guard were $24,510” (collegegrad.com). Thus, really gambling helps more that it damages.
Gambling is an
Cited: Association, American Gaming. "What are the economic impacts of the casino gaming industry?" 2003. americangaming.org. 29 september 2009 <http://www.americangaming.org/industry/faq_detail.cfv?id=1>. Molyneaux, George. "Should Gambling be Banned?" 29 october 2006. idebate.org. 26 september 2009 <http://www.idebate.org/debatabase/topic_details.php?topicID=549>. Statistics, Bureau of Labor. "Career Information." collegegrad.com. 3 October 2009 <http://www.collegegrad.com/careers/servi24.shtml>. USAplayers. "Why should Gambling Should Be Legal In the USA." 2009. usaplayers.com. 26 September 2009 <http://www.usaplayers.com/gambling/questions/why-online-gambling-should-be-legal-in-usa.html>.