So what? Can someone explain what this article is trying to get me outraged at?
State lotteries collect ~$30 billion in revenue a year. If we're supposed to be outraged that the government profits from gambling, shouldn't we talk about that first?
Or is this just another driveby article taking potshots at the US military?
Someone please explain how a right-thinking person is supposed to read this. There's an axe being ground here, not sure what it is.
Some people believe that gambling is immoral, and that hosting slot machines or other gambling games is exploitative.
Some people are not necessarily opposed to gambling, but strongly believe the government should take care of military personnel. To them, this may be an example of the government failing to provide more wholesome (or at the very least, less expensive) activities.
Some people are outraged by the amount of money the government spends on the military. To them, this may be an example of the government collecting yet more money from enlisted personnel rather than using their extensive budget to properly fund the "morale, welfare, and recreation" programs.
I suspect the article's intent is to highlight the latter two points. Personally I'm not sure how to feel about it. While I am not opposed to gambling, I do think we need support for managing addictions (including gambling addictions).
Slot machines are particularly insidious. With a lottery, it's possible to become a problem gambler, or become adicted, sure. But slot machines are designed to hook people. All the images, the sound, the gameplay is designed specifically to psychologically manipulate people, draw people in and basically make them addicted. It's pretty evil really.
Agree they're terrible. So lets talk about outlawing slot machines altogether because they're too addictive.
Something tells me a lot more money is made off of slot machines in casinos than on military bases. I just don't see why they're singling out the military in the article.
I guess my point is the article feels like a classic "abc is bad, and xyz does abc, so therefore xyz is bad" type article.
State lotteries collect ~$30 billion in revenue a year. If we're supposed to be outraged that the government profits from gambling, shouldn't we talk about that first?
Or is this just another driveby article taking potshots at the US military?
Someone please explain how a right-thinking person is supposed to read this. There's an axe being ground here, not sure what it is.