tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9217938358980049380.post4562098618167721193..comments2023-05-09T05:27:03.463-04:00Comments on You've All Said What?: Casinos in MassachusettsYShttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14323305462675231903noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9217938358980049380.post-44119727307328345822008-05-16T12:35:00.000-04:002008-05-16T12:35:00.000-04:00I mostly don't agree. I DO agree that it's silly ...I mostly don't agree. I DO agree that it's silly for the government to legislate morality, even though it's done so since governments first came into existence. But for me, that's not what this is about. Casinos ruin communities. Atlantic City is worse off now than it was before gambling was legalized, as are many other cities, like Biloxi, Joliet, Reno, etc. Casinos are magnets for organized crime, are huge drains on municipal and natural resources, and aren't a great solution when it comes to job creation. (Casinos tend to underemploy people, hiring part-time workers that don't get benefits - underemployment is a huge problem in Las Vegas, and the abject poverty in Atlantic City speaks for itself.) This isn't about allowing people to make their own decisions when it comes to gambling (nothing is preventing a motivated gambler from going to Indian reservations in Connecticut to gamble, for example). I understand the NIMBY argument, and that's partly what this is about. But unlike, say, a garbage dump or a prison, which are necessary to the functioning of society, I think the better argument for casinos is NIABY (not in anybody's backyard).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com