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by Fargoan 1415 days ago
What do you think is wrong with gambling?
4 comments

It takes advantage of people who have a common mental disorder. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Problem_gambling
So does the ads, google, government machinery etc. They take advantage of people's common "mental disorder" (I say "mental disorder" because it is still a weakness even if it is present in a lot of people, which I take as the assumption made in your comment as well) such as very limted attention span, lack of long term memory and vulnerability to distraction..
> So does the ads

This is true, but this just means that there's something wrong with both ads and gambling

I have nothing against gambling as long as people know they're gambling. I keep seeing the same cycle of people encouraged through FOMO and taunts of “have fun staying poor”, unsophisticated investors putting at stake more than they can afford to lose, and then the relevant subreddits posting suicide hotline numbers. It's sickening and it needs to stop.

Edit: this timely link appeared on my feed: https://blog.mollywhite.net/celsius-letters/

It doesn't provide any value for society. Maybe a bit of entertainment, along with destroying some people's lives (problem gamblers). It basically just syphons away money from individuals to corporations while not providing much in return.
It provides return to people who like it. It does not have to provide value to the "whole society" (which really mean, it does not provide a value to "me") to justify its existence.
I didn't say for the "whole society" but as a whole, i.e. if you sum up all the positives with the negatives. Heroin provides value for people who like it and somehow can use it without getting addicted. As a whole though I'd argue it's a net negative on society.
Casinos as-is don't need to be abolished, maybe their regulations need minor adjustment. I personally would abolish them, but it's low priority and not a hill I would die on.

But as far as the blockchain and gambling goes, that's not some silly vacation vice the guys go out to vegas for a few times a year/decade.

This stuff is advertised hard by influencers, misrepresented as investments, advertised at children, using foreign jurisdictions to be unaccountable.

It's not "it's bad because gambling bad".

It's bad because gambling is being forced shamelessly into the rest of the economy, often under false pretenses.

I have only quibbles[1] with clearly labeled gambling. I have a serious problem with a casino claiming to be a bank.

[1] and that is regulated to help reduce the amount it takes advantage of people who can't help it.