Gambling or
What is a vice?
When I was a teenager my friends and I would gather to play a card game called In Betweens. It was a gambling game where you would bet on whether a third card drawn was in between the first two. I hit upon the clever strategy of doubling my bet every time I lost so that when I won I'd recoup all my losses. Foolproof! Until a losing streak took away all my pennies.
I didn't gamble after that. I slipped out of the jaws of a vice without even knowing.
Back then organized gambling was illegal in Canada. The Irish Hospital Sweepstakes caused great excitement each year and even that was only quasi-legal. I was astounded when lotteries became common in Canada. I was surprised when casinos became common. Both lotteries and casinos were touted as ways of raising money for worthy causes.
In BC the system worked like this. The licence to operate the casino would be held by a charitable organization which would also provide volunteers who acted as cashiers. The charity would get half of the profits for the night. I was a member of a printmaking society that got licences like that a couple of times and I volunteered as a cashier.
It was fascinating to be on the inside in a casino but also pretty distressing. I had people cashing in their chips who were weeping. Once I saw a woman approach a guy at a gaming table yelling "that's our rent money!". Security escorted her off the premises.
I've read that gambling is classed as an addictive behavior. I think it works because a win gives us more pleasure than a loss gives displeasure. I saw this at work with my Dad. He liked to play a slot machine and the pleasure of winning $10 out outweighed the fact that he had to bet $20 to get it.
Now gambling has been automated. I see ads all the time inviting me to gambling websites with promises of "200 free spins" and bonus credit on the site. Such a site would be full of all sorts of hooks to keep you playing and paying.
Gambling is a vice that grabs some people and does lots of harm.
Long ago police departments would have 'vice squads'. I don't know if they still do. Merriam/Webster tells us: "a police squad charged with enforcement of laws concerning gambling, pornography, sex work, and the illegal use of liquor and narcotics"
It seems that a lot of things that were once considered vices are now legal. Gambling, the sex trade, use of all sorts of drugs, homosexuality: all are legal now or tolerated.
I suspect that the vice squad's members went on to other work like pedophilia and kiddie porn and internet scammers with other squads.
Religious countries are notorious (to me) for having vice squads that enforce religious standards of behavior and dress.
Many of our economic institutions are based on gambling, like the stock market and insurance. Investing in stocks and insurance is presented as plain prudence. Why would a vice squad be interested?
What do you think?
I present regular philosophy discussions in a virtual reality called Second Life.
I set a topic and people come as avatars and sit around a virtual table to discuss it.
Each week I write a short essay to set the topic.
I show a selection of them here.