Finally, someone in the major media is speaking out about the horribly corrosive effect of online sports gambling in this country. The Washington Post editorial, “By Embracing Sports Gambling, U.S. Chases Fool’s Gold,” yesterday mentions the “toxic side effects” of the explosive trend as being “gambling addiction, personal bankruptcy and mental health problems,” which are all very real. But it fails to mention the more consequential impact on entire households struggling to stay afloat.
Since the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2018 that states can set their own regulations for gambling, a new industry has overwhelmed the culture, especially the sports culture, with pervasive and relentless advertising come-ons involving high profile celebrities. The editorial notes that this industry is now slated to earn $14.3 billion this year, with 11 percent of the adult population partaking. The numbers are roughly equal to those all over Europe.
It needs to be pointed out where that $14.3 billion is coming from, which is not only out of the pockets of the bettors themselves, but off the tables of households struggling to have enough food, away from an ability to pay the rent and doctor bills, etc.
We live in a society where a huge percentage of us live literally paycheck to paycheck, and while this may explain why so many feel the need to resort to gambling, this whole business is nothing but a cruel way to exploit the vulnerability of a huge percentage of our population to take away their hard earned money and food from the mouths of the young..