Saturday, May 05, 2007

Gambling in Canada

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According to recent reports the gaming industry in Canada is as big as professional sports, television, movies and recorded music all put together. It employs more than 50,000 people and has paid out more than 2 billion in wages. That means that there are more people employed in the gaming industry in Canada than in forestry and the manufacturing of automobiles. In 2006, Canadians gambled away $14.5 billion playing slots, betting on horses and buying lottery tickets. Of this, the provincial government confiscated $7.4 billion while $3.2 billion went to charities.

What a pathetic state of affairs in this country! What a record to be proud of! Canadians must rank among some of the most foolish people on the face of the planet and in the history of the world given the huge resources we have squandered and our needing to resort to this highway robbery of the dimwitted to keep the money flowing.

If $3.2 billion went to charities, why are people representing every ailment and body-part known to man still knocking on my door or calling me on the phone and asking for donations? What gives? Are there no healthy people in the country? Doesn't anyone work at a job that actually produces something of value? Where are the visionaries and entrepreneurs of days gone by who actually made something that benefited others and improved life on the earth? Doesn't $14.5 billion in gambling revenues indicate that we have become a nation of leeches who are prepared to suck money out of anyone's pocket without any consideration to the long term social impact of such "recreations". Are Canadians really that lacking in imagination that after hockey, curling and Tim Horton's all that they can think to doing in their spare time is throw their money away? Is this what we have come to? Is this the end of it all, one last gasp before the terminally ill Canadian patient is finally declared dead!

In some ways, none of this is that surprising given our national commitment to secularism. We are reaping what we have sown and the wrath of God is already being poured out on our heads. As a nation we are leaderless. Bland, incipient, conviction-challenged automatons occupy many of the highest and most influential positions in the land. There is no plan for the future because their is no future that can be seen beyond the immediate moment. For years now Canada has aborted its children and pursued its materialistic dreams. If it were not for immigration which has temporarily propped up the economy and provided workers for our increasing number of minimum wage industries, we would have been sunk long ago. And now gambling, the new savior, the engine that will drive economic prosperity, supplying charities with much needed cash and keeping rural parts of the country alive! Oh my, can't we do better than this? But alas, gamblers don't read blogs! They just want to have a good time. So off they go to the casino, to the lottery ticket terminal, to the race track.... go ponies go... keep Ontario going... until the bitter end.

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