Americans increasingly see legal sports betting as a bad thing for society

Post by idopmstuff » Sun, Oct 05, 2025, 6:42 PM UTC

nekusar wrote: post #348

I remember when gambling was actually just illegal in most of the USA. In my state, it was the state run lotto that was used to sell the idea "Hey we'll take lottery proceeds and fund education with it!!!!!". Of course, state-run lottery was legalized, and yes, the proceeds did run schools. The next funding session, they CUT the existing funding to schools and had the lottery run the bulk of the funding. They natural…

Post by kqr » Sun, Oct 05, 2025, 6:44 PM UTC

hollerith wrote: post #326

kqr wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but those are separate claims. "Lead causes health problem, and vicious cycles are a thing, therefore health problems cause lead!" is not a valid shape for an argument. It may well be true, but both directions have to be established before calling it a vicious cycle. In this case, I can agree bad social conditions cause gambling, but I don't think the data supports the opposite, at least not more than many other…

Cause-and-effect relationships can be complicated and it is important not to jump to conclusions, but do you deny that there are millions of Americans who can correctly identify an addiction when they see it in someone they have some sort of ongoing relationshp with (either because they have training and experience in treating addiction or because they themselves or someone close to them were once addicted)? Do you d…

Post by jama211 » Sun, Oct 05, 2025, 6:47 PM UTC

adriand wrote: post #266

throw0101d wrote: post #226

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It’s reflective of people losing hope in the system’s ability to make their lives better. Kyla Scanlon (?) coined the term "financial nihilism" to describe this feeling: * https://kyla.substack.com/p/gen-z-and-financial-nihilism She thinks it's why things like cryptocurrencies/BTC have taken off: it's a chance to 'hit the jackpot', as many folks don't see another way to (financial) success.

I’m genuinely curious to what extent the hardships younger people face economically are related to wasting huge amounts of time on screens. The average Gen Z person spends nine hours per day on screens. The average 18-24 year old American spends more than three hours per day just on social media. I recognize all the various societal and structural factors that disadvantage younger people. At the same time, people hav…

Post by koolba » Sun, Oct 05, 2025, 6:49 PM UTC

dpark wrote: post #328

tgv wrote: post #316

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're clearly having different views on society. Yours seems through a strict financial lens, but correct me if I'm wrong. > potentially huge if you do. No, it isn't. You've just incurred a (probably larger) loss, elsewhere. There's no pay-off. Insurance makes large losses bearable for the individual and society. That's unlike gambling.

“I bet you $500 a month I’ll get cancer.” Insurance absolutely has a societal benefit. It is also absolutely gambling.

Post by sigwinch » Sun, Oct 05, 2025, 6:52 PM UTC

oreally wrote: post #289

keiferski wrote: post #255

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think what you're saying is that society would benefit from a kind of lottery system that made it easy for people to earn a sizable amount of money randomly , without any sort of gatekeeping? I agree with the premise, however, in actuality gambling systems are almost all designed to just extract money from people. Not function as a wealth redistribution system.

it's not really lottery, that system has to involve growing a 'skill' such that one could possibly get 'good' and 'rewarded' at it, and that 'skill' doesn't need human approval, which will make it a true alternative to getting jobs. bonus points if one can scale it up. Take daytrading for example, of the 99% who fail are they all gamblers or are they just tolerating enough failures until they get a positive expectanc…