How do you solve a problem like gambling?
This question begs to be answered with the impending operation of jai alai betting stations in Bohol. Just weeks after the much-ballyhooed anti-swertres campaign, people are once again confronted by this resurgent social malady. It is not so much about its legality, although one cannot help wondering why the government made it legal in the first place. Of course, we know why. The arguments for and against gambling have been sufficiently presented. This is no longer the time for that. The damage has been done. It is no longer enough to argue against the legalization of gambling merely on moral grounds. Morality has been beaten to a pulp in a generation where the smart ass is hailed as a hero while the virtuous is treated like a lunatic. Of course, it does not help that many people who claim to be guardians of morality are actually no different than the unabashed gambler. The only difference is that latter proudly announces it while the latter hides in the shadows. We can understand that people who live on a hand-to-mouth existence are logical recruits to bet their way out of it.
This is not to say that they are justified in embracing gambling as their ticket out of their misery. It is just a sad commentary to the moral fiber of our society that people would rather sell their soul than take the long, hard path of righteousness. It shows the kind of faith, more appropriately the lack of it, among the so-called faithful. And yet, while it is easy to heap scorn on the poor for doing so, we are very charitable with those who conspire to create an atmosphere conducive for gambling. The erosion of morality did not happen overnight. It is a result of a slow but steady decline of moral standards caught and nurtured during the formative years. If only the moral standards were high and people were uncompromising with their faith, no amount of legality can force them to place a bet on anything. But since ambiguity is a good and convincing teacher, we now have a people who would bet on anything that strikes their fancy. It is no longer about the legality of gambling. When people like what they do, trust them to be very creative. This is simply the case of the law of supply and demand at work. Since people are already naturally inclined to gamble, the demand is there. If people the government can no longer do anything about the demand, they can do something about the supply. They can restrict, if not prohibit. With the opening of jai alai betting stations, however, they just made gambling via the jai alai anything but inaccessible. |
