Introduction
Edmund Burke states, “Gaming is a principle inherent in human nature” (Rogers 235). Gambling is the activity which entails playing at a game involving the chance for money. The activity is undertaken in various ways by individuals in different societies. For instance, in Africa and most other societies, people bet on animal fights and so on. People also place bets on football, basketball, boxing, and various other games. Essentially, gambling has been there for longer than what most people think. In recent years, various societies have different attitudes towards gambling. The subject became enshrined in constitutions of countries since the British government came up with the Public Gambling Act in 1867.
Endless Debates on Gambling
Endless debates have since ensued on whether betting or gambling is good or bad. Those in support for gambling have viciously defended their stand. Most proponents of gambling utilize John Stuart Mill’s ethical theory that was well explained in his text “Utilitarianism”. They mainly argue that gambling is not bad since the action tends to promote happiness. That is, when an individual places a bet and win a jackpot, they become happy. The ultimate happiness that the gambler focuses on is described to produce maximum utility.
Those in opposition of gambling believe that the activity or game has negative consequences which the government should aid to eliminate through banning the activity. They mainly rely on Hobbies’ “Social Contract Theory”. The theory is of the view that, individuals’ moral obligation depends on agreement among them to form the society in which they reside. According to their argument, gambling should be discouraged as it could result in further addictions and instructions to the game and the problems associated with gambling. With consideration of the two theories or the two points of view, gambling should be legalized as the advantage of it being legalized outweighs the inherent disadvantages.
Benefits
Derived utility
Considering John Mill’s idea of Utilitarianism, gambling should be legalized since winning provides qualitatively more utility than the loss of money. When people place bets and lose money, they still continue to bet since they get more satisfaction—rather than money--from the activity. Among the motivations which results to their continuous betting does the fact that they feel relaxed know that they will win someday. The activity is a form of relaxation for most people also comes up as a double-edged sword.
Engagement in the gambling activity is a promotion of societal happiness. There are currently many instances of suicide and other consequences which arise from stress. Gambling is a form of relaxation does more good than harm to people. Gambling does well for the society since the people drain away their stresses and thus end up avoiding engagement in activities that would have badly harm them and their loved ones. Legalizing gambling would make the society embrace the activity as ethical. After all, gambling is inherent in human nature and thus engaging in the activity for relaxation is a good way of dealing with daily lives stress.
Revenue generation for government
Gambling generates lots of revenue for the government. According to Duncan, gambling revenue was, “$ 54 billion in 1999” (1). The revenue generated was quite a huge amount for the government. The economies well-being is benchmarked by increased revenue generation. When there are such increased revenue generations, the peoples’ happiness levels do increase as well. With regards to utilitarianism, generation of revenue to benefit the larger society is nobler than focusing on the happiness of an individual or a group of people. Banning gambling would mean that the government will lose a huge sum of money that is usually generated to the government through gambling activities. To ensure that the government continues to generate lots of revenue and thus enhance the people’s living standards, gambling should be legalized. The main focus of the government should be putting up measures to ensure that individuals and institutions contribute to the national kitty and that the funds generated are channeled towards the right cause—which improve the societal well-being.
Individuals’ Source of Income
Gambling could serve as an additional source of income for individuals who place bets and win the jackpot or any other prizes. According to Mill, everybody wants to be happy, and that is what matters. An additional source of income is a sure source of happiness for most people as one would be able to tend to their personal as well as family needs. In most cases, the lack of income causes sadness. Such sadness may result in a ripple effect which leads to further sadness to friends, relatives, and other close persons. With gambling being legalized, many people will be accorded the opportunity to get extra income and thereby enhance their happiness levels as well as those of their close friends and family.
Reduction of illegal activity
Failure to legalize gambling could result in the opening of many illegal casinos. In most cases, it is normal that when something or an activity is made illegal, some people do it anyway. For instance, the spread of black market of some commodities has been as a result of the commodities being banned. Banning gambling would only mean that many illegal casinos that are not well controlled will arise. Such casinos do not generate income for the government. The consumers may also be harmed due to lack of the governments’ intervention in the control and monitoring of the activities which take place in such casinos. Gambling should thus be legalized as it would be worse than when the casinos are well controlled. The common good of the public will be well safeguarded with legal casinos and other betting activities being in place.
Disadvantages
Addiction
There are various reasons that opponents of gambling give in support of the activity being banned. Among them is the ease with which gamblers may get addicted and thus get into problems with the authority or the society. Hobbes theory of Social Contract is the main basis of their arguments. In theory, men ought to be controlled as their nature is horrible in the sense that they mainly want everything for themselves. People can be organized as long as they see others doing the same. They try to mean that if gambling is legalized, there would be a disorder as more people would get into betting among other gambling activities. The event does not seem true as gambling is a part of human nature.
The best thing that the government could do is to come up with policies that control gambling. Addiction is one of the problems that provides enough claim on why gambling should be made illegal. Alcohol, cigarettes and other drug substances are highly addictive. The result of such addiction is even more devastating but governments allow for their use. In most cases, the governments have failed to control their consumption. The implication would only mean that some things cannot simply be wished away rather, an appropriate framework for control should be established to ensure that the best is got from the activities.
Negative social impact
Those against gambling often cite the social impact of losing as the reason as to why gambling should be made illegal. A single loose could be devastating for an individual but an eventual win could cause more happiness. That is, one could lose in some instances and win in others. When they win, they surely benefit as they take with them a huge amount of money or benefit. When the loss is realized by an individual, there is a gain for another individual elsewhere. This means that the eventual benefit of betting is much better. That is perhaps what those who site the social impacts of gambling fail to consider.
Time wastage and other reasons
Another reason which is often mentioned by the opponents of gambling is that the citizens ought to be encouraged to do better things. Most people engage in gambling activities during their leisure time. Time wastage will be evident when they engage in gambling after a long day’s work. A closer understanding of what gambling means could also result in a changed opinion. What most people do not know is that investment in the stock market is also some sort of gambling (Korten, 2001, p187). An investor places money in the hope of getting financial but they are never sure of the outcome, which is a behavior that gamblers engage in. In a nutshell, gambling takes many different forms. Asking citizens to do better things and declaring gambling as illegal could be pretty the same as asking for trouble. That is something that might never happen in the real world. Various other reasons that are mentioned in the arguments against gambling include the following: legalizing gambling will attract people who never gambled before, gambling could lead to political corruption, legalizing of the activity could affect young children and that they may follow a wrong path.
Conclusion
Much as the two theories differ in their views, there are some similarities. Both theories would agree that an individual has the right to do as they please with their personal property. The theory of Social Contract which is supported by Hobbes confirms that humans do respond to the stimuli around them. Mill argues that if the world incorporated utilitarianism as ethical, the population would adopt the values and make them morally binding. The two theories agree that people have the right to do what they wish with their personal property and thus, gambling should be legal.
When gambling is legalized, there will be some better control measures in place to safeguard society. For instance, age restriction will ensure that children who are not yet wise with regards to decision making do not end up doing what they do not wish to do. There will be the lesser engagement of individuals in illegal activities. As such, the government will be able to realize the revenue from the activities and thus channel the funds towards other activities that need funds. As long as people are allowed to do activities at their own will, gambling should be legalized.
Works Cited
Aaron M. Duncan. Gambling with the Myth of the American Dream. New York and London: Routledge, 2015. Print.
Henry Rogers. The works of the Right Hon. Edmund Burke. London: Samuel Holdsworth, 1842. Print.
Korten, D.C. When Corporations Rule the World. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian Press, Inc. 2001. Print.
