So OK, here we go, Bridgewater, listen up.
From now on I need you to think of every casino proposal as if it
were a football field.
Imagine that the company wanting to build a casino is at one
end of the field.
The town without a casino is at the other.
Now the second, the moment, the instant a
town starts officially using the term 'mitigation', one of those teams moves up to the 50 yard line.
That's because, to the company wanting to build a casino, mitigation means there's a price tag a local government is willing to place on the safety and quality of life in
that town.
And that's music to their ears.
Because now they know they're just haggling over the price.
And 'Gaming'?
'Gaming' is a marketing term the gambling/casino/slot/corruption/political/lobbying industry uses to
whitewash/soften/sanitize/glamorize/legitimize it's justifiably dirty
image.
They want you and a two thirds majority of everyone else to believe that 'Gaming' implies a mostly
harmless form of entertainment.
Well, certainly.
A mostly a harmless form of entertainment that
requires vast amounts of money to pay for the application of influence to
assist it's passage into law, and for the expensive regulation, dedicated
law enforcement, special interest umbrellas, and perpetually underfunded
addiction treatment that follows.
Not to mention 'mitigation' and tax rates high enough to
avoid those tough legislative questions forever, whatever, Amen.
Look folks, Baseball and Football are
games. Candy Land and Clue are games. Call of Duty and Mario Kart are games. Sudoku, Mahjong, Poker and
Blackjack are all games. Even Roulette is a game - of chance.
But the 'game' that the gambling industry makes the overwhelming bulk of it's money on – slots – is a deceptive, fixed and predatory 21st century form of loaded dice.
But the 'game' that the gambling industry makes the overwhelming bulk of it's money on – slots – is a deceptive, fixed and predatory 21st century form of loaded dice.
The only real game on the slot floor is
the one being played by the casino, figuring out which players they
can take, and for how much.
So, for the record, when someone who doesn't work for it
starts using the term the 'gaming' industry, it's because
they're either new to it, or because a strange pod-like thing recently
showed up in their living room.
Like the pods themselves, the term
'gaming' can be highly dangerous. So don't forget to use quotation marks to keep
it safely contained.
And stay alert. Always use the actual scientific term – gambling – to describe an industry that wins only when individuals, families, businesses and communities lose.
Furthermore – it's not
'The Casino' – it's the 'The Proposed Casino'.
And it's not a resort. Don't even think of calling it a resort. It's a casino that may happen to have a resort. But it won't be a resort that just happens to have a casino. Resorts don't need their own regulatory bureaucracy.
If you do talk of 'Impacts', keep in mind that the most important of those 'impacts' can never be quantified.
Listen, if you want a level playing field going into this, it's going to be up to you to keep it that way.
And it's not a resort. Don't even think of calling it a resort. It's a casino that may happen to have a resort. But it won't be a resort that just happens to have a casino. Resorts don't need their own regulatory bureaucracy.
If you do talk of 'Impacts', keep in mind that the most important of those 'impacts' can never be quantified.
Listen, if you want a level playing field going into this, it's going to be up to you to keep it that way.
So remember, the best offense is always a good defense.
Form a committee if you must, but call it what it is, a 'Casino Impacts Study Committee' or something of that nature.
Because if the gambling industry really wants to build a casino in your town, they need to prove to you why that would be such a tremendously good idea.
Form a committee if you must, but call it what it is, a 'Casino Impacts Study Committee' or something of that nature.
Because if the gambling industry really wants to build a casino in your town, they need to prove to you why that would be such a tremendously good idea.
And not just wait for you to hand over the ball.
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4 comments:
I think people in small town Massachusetts should form a musket and torch commitee. That would make it a more even playing field. It would get the point across anyway. If you think about the reality of it, Carney's slot barn isn't going to have competition that close.
'Musket and Torch Committee'... I like it. After almost five years watching casino interests (including their pocket politicians) in action, I feel that is the appropriate response.
And yeah, the George Carney Memorial Slot Barn... I was wondering about that too. I mean, too many slot machines spoil the trough,right?
I suspect towns all over the state are going to have to go what we went through with Middleboro while the forces of darkness shuffle the decks for the elusive casino licence.
Not to be pedantic but "resort" is underselling it. One of our selectmen actually called the proposed Middleboro casino "A five star resort that just happens to have a casino". No lie - video to prove it.
I remember! We heard that a lot back in the day, didn't we?
Groan...
As if five-star resorts have lobbyists crawling all over state governments, helping them draft controversial five-star resort legislation, which will ultimately require the five-star resort to pay a 25% plus tax rate in order to justify the subsequent five-star resort addiction that, among other things, will generate an increase in five-star resort related crime, and regular child abandonment in five-star resort parking lots.
Sheesh.
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