A lot of money is being forcibly taken by the federal government from the pockets of those who worked hard to earn it and moved to those who have done nothing to deserve it yet feel entitled to it. Why is the government allowed to do what private citizens are not allowed to?
Why is gambling bad? Why do so many religions and governments abhor gambling?
Is gambling “bad” simply because it encourages greed? Or is it because it encourages laziness, as winners do not do anything significant to deserve their winnings? Or is it because it deals primarily in earnings through a game of chance?
No. It is because gambling is a zero-sum game. A zero-sum game is one where total gains exactly equal total losses among all the players at any one time. No net wealth is created or added to society by engaging in the activity.
For example, in a game of poker, your wins are exactly the other players’ (including the house’s) losses, and vice-versa. Compare this to a worker in a factory’s assembly line — the worker, by spending his time and labor on raw materials, enhances those materials’ value and creates goods which are useful to those who demand them. The worker contributes to the economy and society by engaging in his work. Gamblers, on the other hand, contribute nothing to the economy and society and do not create anything of use to others.
Zero-sum games are just a matter of transferring money from the losers’ pockets to the winners’. Wealth is not created via such activities. Ideally, society would be better off if the players (or gamblers) engaged in value-adding activities instead. Can you imagine whole communities doing nothing but moving money from one pocket to another? Who is going to grow the food they need to eat? Who will make the clothes they need to wear?
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