The State of Ohio recently passed a law allowing legalized gambling in the state, both at casinos in large cities, as well as horse race tracks. They did so, they said, in order to enhance their revenues and pay their bills in a sagging economy. The governor and state officials, who pushed this legislation through, with a great deal of financial and advertising help from large gambling conglomerates, said that the proceeds would be used to support our schools and local governments. The public bought this hogwash and voted in favor of that legislation. After several delays, created by the new governor, who wanted a bigger take of the monetary cut, construction is underway for several large casinos in this large state. Unemployed workers who are applying for jobs in these casinos are featured in newspaper articles, as benefitting from this gambling foray in Ohio. These articles have no qualms about pointing out how these gambling casinos will be good for all of us.
It seems that the people of Ohio have not learned from the mistakes of others, and also have very short memories. It is not too long ago that these same citizens were sold another gambling bill of goods. They were asked to begin a lottery system in Ohio, so that all these lottery gambling dollars would not be flying out of the state, but would instead stay in Ohio. The citizenry of Ohio was told that the great majority of whatever proceeds came from this lottery system would be applied to fix a failed school system, which provided unequal education for its children. Everyone thought that fixing the school system was highly important, so they voted for a state-wide lottery. Within a year, however, it became clear that what was promised was not happening. Most of the money from the lottery was redirected to the state coffers. In order to pay the bills they couldn’t pay. To this day, the education system in the state of Ohio remains unfixed. Some young people get a very good education; others, who reside in poorer districts, have schools that are unable to get levies passed, and are cutting as many programs as they can, in order to keep afloat. The state of Ohio did not stop there. They also confiscated most of the funds received from the tobacco settlement, placing them in the general fund to pay bills and maintain bureaucrats, rather than to use them as advertised, to have ongoing smoking cessation programs, and support the schools.
The glittering casinos and flashing bright colored lights that draw people to them do not exist unless they are making a profit. They are, in fact, making huge profits off the hard earned dollars of people who can ill afford to throw money away in a depressed economy. The gambling industry is truly a no-brainer. Why would anyone want to throw their money into a system which was guaranteed to make them lose? It seems that we have millions of humans who believe that they can beat the odds, and profit immensely when the odds are stacked against them. All of them know that the casinos are taking their money away from them. Each of these gamblers thinks that those negative odds will not apply to them. The real question is why. Why does the human population have this belief, or belief system, that they will be able to win, when all the odds are solidly lined against them?
My guess is that human intelligence has not yet matured enough to overcome its supreme egocentricity. We believe that we are truly special organisms. We believe that we are superior to the odds that control all other organisms. We mistakenly believe that this world and this earth were created just for us to live here. Our religions preach with fervor that all who believe in a certain person or race will be given immense rewards of an outlandish nature. We are told that we have to do is believe a certain philosophy, and we will live for an eternity in wealth, splendor and pleasure. We believe that the supreme creator and ruler of the entire universe is on our side, and will grant us favors on our behalf, if we only ask with enough fervor and obsequiousness. We believe that all odds can be overcome when the great God of all is on our side. We have, in other words, been royally duped by our self-centered anthropomorphism. Using all these egocentric, fallacious concepts, both religious and otherwise, we are throwing our money away, committing atrocities on each other, and plundering our resources. We don’t understand that this universe runs by the odds, the game of random occurrence, and that this game of chance applies to all living and non-living inhabitants on this earth. It makes no sense whatsoever to gamble, and it makes no sense whatsoever to have a few drinks, then ride your motorcycle with no helmet. We pay dearly when we defy the odds.
It is admirable for anyone to strive against great obstacles. It is admirable for anyone to exercise great and prolonged effort to achieve goals. It is admirable for any human to identify a need, and then find a way to fulfill that need for other life. It is admirable for any human to achieve success, even when the odds are against us. This does not mean, however, that we should seek to challenge the odds. That is really stupid. The God of this universe is the Laws of Chance. This God cares nothing about humans, and would just as soon eliminate us as to have us here. Our only hope of survival on this planet is to stop defying The Laws of Chance. That means we must develop deep respect for all other life, which joins us in a symbiotic struggle to survive, and must develop deep respect for all our resources. Otherwise, the odds are against us.