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Upping Stakes Puts More Than Revenue On The Line

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 5, 2007

Updated: 12/03/2007 08:22 pm

The gambling discussion in our state raises some interesting questions: fiscal, moral, ethical, social and political. We could view the issue through any one of these lenses and have enough to talk about for a long time.

I'm against gambling. I strongly opposed Florida's lottery from the get-go (1988) because it was a gateway initiative. Before long - and this was easy to predict - gaming advocates prefaced every new pitch with some variation of: "But we already have the lottery; it's not as if gambling is something new for Florida."

My objections to the lottery are legion. For starters, our lottery subtly shifts the tax burden to the poor. It sugarcoats the idea of gambling by pairing it with gas purchases, milk and Slurpees. It encourages irresponsible, wish-based spending. It hooks people who would be better served simply facing fiscal reality.

That debate is long lost, however.

If I were really searching for a gateway, I could talk about the ways we allow ourselves to be seduced by the notion that it is any benefit to our existence here on Earth to acquire by chance what should properly be earned via industry, invention, creativity or some other kind of honest toil.

I'm not naïve. I understand that betting will thrive regardless and that my best weapon against any vice is the promotion of the only antidote, authentic spiritual life.

I suspect there is a kind of poetic justice in state-sanctioned gaming sponsored by the Seminole Tribe of Florida.

For much of our early history, the U.S. government pursued a policy of cultural repression, illegal seizure of lands, genocide, looting, social engineering and countless other abuses that all but eradicated American Indian culture.

The least we can do is to allow indigenous people the opportunity to take money from fools without the threat of violence.

In another example of turnabout is fair play, Tampa's Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino sells its victims booze to help the loss go down more easily.

"The Whammy Bar is located in our recently expanded gaming area," the Web site boasts. "There is a gaming machine at every bar stool, so you can have a drink and play your favorite games!"

The bottom line, some say, is that high-stakes gambling is going to happen. Tallahassee is certainly not alone in theorizing, "Well, they might as well spend all that money in Florida so we can put a sizeable portion of it to good use."

Some important questions remain, however, and although I don't intend to resolve them in just a few words, I do believe it is crucial that thinking Floridians at least keep the implications in mind:

•Is the guarantee of a consistent revenue stream more important than hard-to-define moral considerations?

•Is gambling fundamentally wrong or is it simply foolish?

•Is it appropriate for government to maintain any interest in moral or immoral behavior by its people?

•Would we even be having this discussion if the state were operating fiscally in the black?

We wouldn't be having this discussion if Florida were not so hard up for tax dollars. If I'm right, that suggests we are potentially willing to compromise just because we want the money.

If that is the case, then we're all the way back to that opening gateway discussion again because moral compromise in response to fiscal pressure is at best a slippery slope.

Let's keep the exchange of ideas alive. We need to be wary of dismissing deeper social issues simply in favor of revenue.

Columnist Derek Maul can be reached at derekmaul @gmail.com.

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