Stirred by last year\u2019s referendum and a new gaming bill, the debate on the ethics of gambling continues unabated. \u00a0With every major expansion of\u00a0gambling in the country there has been political fallout, including the exposure of divisions within the UBP and the PLP on the morality of\u00a0gambling.<\/p>\n
The political contours of the current debate include a number of curious twists and turns.\u00a0\u00a0The referendum debacle is relatively fresh in the minds\u00a0of Bahamians.<\/p>\n
Many remain unconvinced of the Prime Minister\u2019s claim of neutrality in the referendum debate which proved to be a political fiasco for his\u00a0administration.\u00a0\u00a0The numbers\u2019 bosses must have been angry with the government\u2019s ineptness and the result.<\/p>\n
The legalization of the numbers business is not a constitutional question. Legalization simply required action by parliament.\u00a0\u00a0Instead the\u00a0government sought cover through a referendum process that proved costly and inept.<\/p>\n
An overwhelming majority of those who voted in the referendum said no to the legalization of the numbers business.\u00a0\u00a0A majority of voters did not\u00a0vote, signalling displeasure with various aspects of the debate.<\/p>\n
But the \u201cno\u201d result was far from the end of the debate.\u00a0\u00a0Faster than a roll of the dice, legislation advanced on the expansion of casino gambling.<\/p>\n
The bill to accommodate the resort casinos doing electronic gambling has also raised the issue of Bahamians being able to gamble in resort\u00a0casinos.\u00a0\u00a0The Prime Minister noted that he will take into account what MPs have to say about this and he has indicated that he will act accordingly.<\/p>\n
In a curious and steady procession a number of MPs in the governing party have raised the issue of whether ordinarily resident Bahamians are\u00a0being discriminated against in not being allowed to gamble in casinos.<\/p>\n
Will the government use the discrimination argument as cover to allow such Bahamians to gamble in the casinos?\u00a0\u00a0Is the government waiting for\u00a0enough MPs to get onboard the discrimination bandwagon so that it can move on allowing ordinarily resident Bahamians to gamble in the casinos?<\/p>\n
UNUSUALLY QUIET<\/strong><\/p>\n As an aside, why have religious leaders been unusually quiet during the debate on the gaming bill, especially in light of the nature of the bill in\u00a0terms of dramatically expanding internet-based gambling through The Bahamas?<\/p>\n Recall also the Tourism Minister\u2019s desire to make the country a gambling Mecca.\u00a0\u00a0Will we become like other destinations where slots machines are\u00a0ubiquitous, beyond the confines of the casino, in locations like airports?<\/p>\n All of this expansion of gambling would please the casino operators who would have not just tourists and online gamblers but thousands of\u00a0Bahamians dumping their money into their slot machines and at their black jack tables.\u00a0\u00a0Repeat business by those ordinarily resident in The\u00a0Bahamas would be quite lucrative for casino operators.<\/p>\n As a historical reminder, casinos were meant to be an incentive to encourage large-scale resort development and\u00a0were originally designed to be an\u00a0amenity for tourists who spent only a few days in the Bahamas and not for residents who might patronize them year-round. \u00a0A Bahamian who was\u00a0resident abroad, for example, could gamble in the casino on a visit home.<\/p>\n If Bahamians ordinarily resident in The Bahamas are allowed to gamble, how could a government refuse to allow Bahamians the right to open up\u00a0casinos or legal numbers enterprises?\u00a0\u00a0In a great wheel of fortune windfall, enter the numbers men.<\/p>\n The language we employ in a debate requires scrutiny.\u00a0\u00a0The numbers business is not an \u201cindustry\u201d per se; as long as it remains illegal it\u2019s a racket,\u00a0no matter how the Member of Parliament for Tall Pines views this illegal enterprise.<\/p>\n The argument of discrimination also bears scrutiny.\u00a0\u00a0There are some who make a discrimination argument quite sincerely.\u00a0\u00a0Yet there are others who\u00a0may be using the argument as a convenient cover to advance their economic fortunes.<\/p>\n There are three broad philosophical clusters constituting the body of opinion on gambling, ranging from that of the prohibitionist viewpoint to that\u00a0of the libertarian.\u00a0\u00a0Both the prohibitionist and libertarian viewpoints were described in some detail in last week\u2019s column.<\/p>\n COMMUNITARIAN ARGUMENT<\/strong><\/p>\n The third cluster represents a more moderate and intermediate position, prioritizing a communitarian argument of the social effects of certain types\u00a0of gambling over the question of individual choice.<\/p>\n An earlier compromise on the expansion of casino gambling allowed tourists the opportunity to gamble while restricting it to those ordinarily\u00a0resident in The Bahamas.\u00a0\u00a0A number of religious leaders, generally opposed to gambling, quietly accepted such a compromise.<\/p>\n Hothouse gambling in a casino environment with often free drinks and a carnival atmosphere with flashing lights, scores of fellow gamblers,\u00a0inducements to gamble and a panoply of games of chance, is experientially quite different from buying numbers.<\/p>\n It is the view of this columnist that easy access to this sort of gambling by ordinarily resident Bahamians would have a deleterious effect on the\u00a0Bahamian society, socially, economically, in terms of home life and a potential increase in various types of crime.<\/p>\n Further, an ordinarily resident Bahamian gambling while temporarily visiting overseas is quite different from near 24-hour access to a casino at our\u00a0two major urban centers of New Providence and Grand Bahama as well as any casino currently open or to be opened at a Family Island.<\/p>\n Might we see the day, not that far into the future, where every family island has a casino?\u00a0\u00a0Is this the sort of gambling Mecca the government has\u00a0in mind?<\/p>\n Some would say that this argument of discrimination against Bahamians and is an example of state paternalism.\u00a0\u00a0It depends on the kind of state\u00a0paternalism one finds acceptable.<\/p>\n From seat gun laws to designated seasons for fishing various marine life to what age one may run for the House of Assembly, there is what may be\u00a0described as a minimum or soft paternalism in the interest of various ethical norms and a broader social good.<\/p>\n There is an ethical argument about discrimination.\u00a0\u00a0But in the field of ethics other ethical arguments often weigh more in deciding the best over a\u00a0particular ethical good.\u00a0\u00a0We are continuously weighing ethical choices, and what on balance may be a wiser course of action.<\/p>\n Instead of discrimination, restricting ordinarily resident Bahamians from casino gambling may be viewed as a \u201creasonable exception\u201d.\u00a0\u00a0The state\u00a0does not allow driving and drinking until a certain age.\u00a0\u00a0Is this discriminatory or a reasonable exception?<\/p>\n REASONABLE EXCEPTION<\/strong><\/p>\n The restriction on Bahamians owning handguns is viewed as discriminatory by some.\u00a0\u00a0For many others, including this writer, it is a reasonable\u00a0exception in order to avoid the development a broader gun culture which would have negative social consequences.\u00a0\u00a0For many, it is also reasonable\u00a0to restrict access to various illegal drugs.<\/p>\n This column supported a national lottery, the proceeds of which would be returned to the Bahamian people for various social and development\u00a0initiatives.\u00a0\u00a0In terms of social ethics this appears to be a wiser ethical choice than legalizing a numbers business with windfall profits flowing into\u00a0the coffers of many in this now illegal enterprise.<\/p>\n In deciding how far we want to expand online-based gambling through The Bahamas and whether ordinarily resident Bahamians should be\u00a0allowed to gamble, we are essentially debating the kind of country and society we wish to be and to become.<\/p>\n On the question of gambling, our greater ethical concern might be that of a communitarian ethic of the common good as a priority over arguments\u00a0of individual choice.<\/p>\n We should not be in a rush to make unwise choices based on arguments about discrimination, choices that will surely come to harm us in the years\u00a0to come.<\/p>\n The love of money, by gamblers in a casino and those running gambling concerns, among other vested interests, should not determine the kind of\u00a0country we wish to secure for young Bahamians and future generations.<\/p>\n This is the greater ethical question we should be contemplating and upon which we should make our decisions as parents, citizens and legislators.<\/p>\n By:\u00a0 Simon<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The legalization of the numbers business is not a constitutional question. Legalization simply required action by parliament. Instead the government sought cover through a referendum process that proved costly and inept.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_10223285771444175_51037792744":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[137,40,142,49,163],"class_list":["post-43642","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinions","tag-gambling","tag-government","tag-incompetence","tag-law","tag-society"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43642","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=43642"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/43642\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=43642"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=43642"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bahamasb2b.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=43642"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}