It never fails to amaze me why people smoke. In spite of volumes
of medical evidence showing beyond reasonable doubt that smoking
damages health, people still smoke. Apparently these people think
their lungs are special and not subject to smoking related
diseases. They live in a fantasy world when it comes to
smoking.
It never fails to amaze me why people smoke. In spite of volumes of medical evidence showing beyond reasonable doubt that smoking damages health, people still smoke. Apparently these people think their lungs are special and not subject to smoking related diseases. They live in a fantasy world when it comes to smoking.
I’m also amazed how many people think that a local Indian casino will produce more benefit to our communities of Gilroy and Hollister than it will produce harm. With a plethora of evidence available showing the contrary, these people like Dr. Jeckle of story fame, embrace the casino-monster Mr. Hyde, with fantasy-like ignorance, forgetting how in the end of that story the monster ultimately consumes the good doctor.
To demonstrate my point, here are some fantasy statements made recently in The Dispatch by local residents about the proposed Indian casino.
Fantasy: “If officials play their cards right, they might be able to leverage this opportunity into a much-needed economic engine for the region.” – Lisa Pampuch 9/4 column. Fact: The “economic engine” argument is a straw man. Research over the last 10 years with Indian casinos back east has shown that gambling depresses legitimate business, siphoning money from the business community. Since most casinos attract 80 percent or more of their market from up to a 35-60 mile radius, casinos absorb existing entertainment, restaurant and hotel business, and deplete dollars available to other retail businesses. That destroys other jobs in the trade area and eliminates their sales, employment and property tax contributions.
Fantasy: “Crime is due to the fact that there are so many people not working. We all should think about this first – we need all those [casino] jobs!” – Yolanda Muniz, 9/7 letter. And another fantasy: “An Indian casino with heavy security … would be the ONLY crime-free oasis in this whole area.” – T.D. Roberts, 9/14 letter.
These two letter writers must live in outer space, because they’re a universe away from the conclusion of top-law officers like San Benito County sheriff Curtis Hill, who said such a local casino would lead to more crime, in spite of the projected jobs. Fact: research shows that gambling increases crime. Gambling always attracts racketeers and mobsters just like flies are attracted to garbage. Gambling increases the number of murders, assaults, robberies, and crimes of violence of all kinds, within the casino’s geography, in spite of how much “high security” might be installed in a casino.
Three years after the introduction of casinos in Atlantic City, there was a tripling of total crimes. The underworld thrives on gambling because it redistributes wealth on an inequitable basis into their pockets. Gambling enriches a few and impoverishes the many. Law enforcement costs increase, and the taxpayer ultimately pays for these costs, along with increased costs for social services.
Fantasy: “They need to put the casino where there is easy freeway access, further south on U.S. 101, near San Juan Bautista.” – Elizabeth Chenet, letter 9/7. Ms. Chenet objects to a casino on Highway 25, but thinks it’s a fine idea to dump it next to U.S. 101, turning beautiful historic San Juan Bautista into a congested mess. Fact: Proximity matters. Evidence shows that a casino within 10 miles of a home yields a 90 percent increased risk of its occupants becoming pathological or problem gamblers. In a mature gambling market, compulsive gambling typically seizes the lives of 1.5 percent to 2.5 percent of the adult population. That amounts to three to five times the number of people suffering from cancer.
While some people argue that “folks are going to gamble anyway”, or “it’s a free country isn’t it?” they miss the important point that the purpose of state and national government includes protecting citizens from dangerous products, health risks, ponzi schemes, false advertising, bait and switch tactics, and crime. Gambling fits all of those descriptions and worse.
Medical research shows that gambling has all the properties of a psychoactive substance, changing the neurochemistry of the brain.
Will fantasy and folly win over sanity and allow a casino into our community in spite of evidence showing the damage a casino does to people and business? Are activities bad because they’re immoral, or are they immoral because they’re bad? While this might be a chicken vs. egg debate, one fact remains certain: “Folly is wont to have more followers and comrades than discretion.” – Miguel de Cervantes.
I challenge our local political leaders to exercise discretion in this situation, rather than being sucked into the fantasy that a local casino will benefit our community.
