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re: casinos "... don't produce anything"
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In Oregon, we have the "State Lottery" with video machines in bars, etc.
The Native American tribes also have casino's, some on tribal land.
For Oregon's lottery, a significant % goes to support the State's contribution to local schools,
and developing public lands (parks, fish habitats, etc.)
But, it is also a free ride for local politicians to make travel junkets all over the world,
...ostensibly to generate tourist dollars.
One public relations bullet point for the tribal casino's is the $ is being used to provide health care,
both medial and mental health, to Native Americans, both on and off of the reservations.
I believe is this one of best examples of historical irony
... take $ from the white man and improve the well being of individual tribal members.
But I have not seen anything about who else gets other shares of this pie.
So, in both of these forms of gambling, there are some uses of the $ which are good,
and some not so good; and there is a product or service at the end.
For myself, I guess I do still have that paternalistic prejudice that gambling,
especially State-sponsored, takes $ out of the pockets, of lower income people...
those who are not gambling for entertainment, but instead are
hoping to change their lives by "winning big".