Battleangel

There are many ways by which organizations and governments prey on biological imperatives and social “shortcomings”. Gambling is one of them.

Just so that we are clear on one thing, I am all for personal freedom and I love this individualistic society that models so much of the western world. And whether you champion a sociological or a more biological view of our behavior, there is no doubt that fear and risktaking is attractive, almost lustful.
It’s just a fact that certain ideas and concepts are more acceptable than others. Phenomena linked to aggression and fear are such behavioral “sinkholes”. It’s like Marx once put it, “religion is opiate to the people”. It’s crude I know, but the analogy is striking. Some ideas are just better suited at grabbing hold of us and not letting go. Religion is undoubtedly one because it provides answers where there are none to be had (at least from a rational scientific standpoint). Politicized racism is another because it preys on our fear for the unknown and that which then inheritably is dissimilar to us. Gambling is also in this league if you ask me.

There are many ways by which gambling and risktaking can be explained for our species today. I’ll wont bore anyone with the details but suffice to say it seems to be more than a rare personality trait and rather an acquired or native mechanism that is present for most of us.

So, whats the beef? Well … Did you know that, for instance, it is not allowed to do alcohol commercials on Swedish television? But to advertise for horse or greyhound racing or whatever is apparently no problem. In fact, the two major gambling outlets in Sweden (ATG and Svenska Spel) are both in part or fully owned or controlled by the government.
Now, don’t get me wrong here, I have no moral objections to gambling. I just observe how people get hooked on a potentially unhealthy habit that can lead to an addiction that is just as real as any medical compound can produce. The gambling business claims that only 2% have a “problem” with their gambling. In any case, I have some advice for the other 98% - there are plenty of better ways to make money. And if it’s the thrill you’re after, there are plenty of better (and free!) ways of getting your daily adrenaline.
ATG claims to “make gambling on horses readily available to the public in a responsible way”. Yeah right. So, in a way it’s like the policy on hand guns in the US. As part of honouring this tradition, you can now bet online. Personally, I prefer the kind of online games where you blow someone’s head of in intense duels or sink battleships (all for free of course). I think it’s the same fundamental forces at work whether you replay the battle for Midway or bet on horse racing. Same addiction, the difference is that someone makes a HEFTY profit on one of them.
According to official statistics, Swedes spend a total of about 33.6 billion sek on gambling each year. That translates into almost 4000 sek per capita and year. “Only” 85% of the populace gamble however. The remaining 15% is probably juveniles and people who aren’t physically capable of wiping their own ass. I would like to think that 15% of the population are in fact sane and exist in the same reality as I do but that just wouldn’t be true. It’s no wonder we still haven’t colonized our solar system when almost 9/10 of the population are too busy gambling for money. That is also my main beef with this thing. People could probably use their time and money for something a lot more productive. Instead they are encouraged to engage in such trivial activities. And not even the government seem to give a damn.

It hurts to see a defenseless public being victimized by these “new missionaries”. Just as so many times before they sweep in with promises of fortune. Dreams of wealth or an eternal afterlife - it is all the same to me.

For more recent info and statistics on (online) gambling see ZDNet: Online betting spawns new gamblers

Other Sources:
Svenska Spel
AB Trav & Galopp