Here’s what they printed:
A loser’s game
The condition of our economy proves the absurdity of John Stossel’s argument that gambling should be legal because, “People are responsible for the consequences of their bad habits” (“Is it your choice to gamble? You betcha!” May 14). We’re digging ourselves out of the worst recession since 1929 because people took out mortgages they couldn’t afford. It’s costing us trillions of dollars to clean up from their “bad habits.”
Whether it’s Keno, a slots hall or a casino, any gambling establishment is a blight on the community, one that hurts those who patronize it and everyone else.
– Jonathan Kamens, Brighton
Here’s what I sent them:
Gambling not a victimless vice
To the editor:
John Stossel argues that gambling should be legal because, “People are responsible for the consequences of their bad habits.”
The condition of our economy proves the absurdity of that argument. We’re digging ourselves out of the worst recession since 1929 because people took out mortgages they couldn’t afford. It’s costing us trillions of dollars to clean up from their “bad habits.”
The spa down the street from my house has a dedicated keno room. I see people who clearly cannot afford it sitting in that room gambling for hours at a time. Many of them are entirely disreputable, the kind of people who provide a market for the wall full of seedy porn magazines the spa recently added. Whether it’s a keno room, a slots hall or a casino, any gambling establishment is a blight on the community, one that hurts the people who patronize it and everyone else.
— Jonathan Kamens, Brighton
Interestingly, I got email this morning from the executive director of Stop Predatory Gambling, thanking me for my letter and describing it as “right on the mark.” I wonder how he found out about it so quickly.
