Moral and Legal Influence in Acceptable Leisure - Literature review Example

Reflective Study: (Personal critic) Week 11: The Dark Side of Gambling Name Course Tutor Institution Date Moral & legal influence in acceptable leisure Gambling has been and is still considered by many to be a form of leisure. As much as this is true, there are others that have found it difficult to embrace it as a form of leisure. This could be because of what it stands for or due to other personal opinions. In my reflective study, I will discuss the facts that support the above debate. Is gambling a form of leisure? For it to be considered leisure, does it have to be morally correct? If it is morally correct, what level of legal implication does it come with? Getting answers to these questions will greatly facilitate the definition of leisure in regards to moral and legal influence involved. The lottery, horse racing, casino nights, church bingo and carnival games are different forms of gambling that people consider being leisure. Determining the morality of gambling has over the years been found to be hard to comprehend as defenses have always arise that bring about confusion on the issues that we have convictions. According to Rowe and Lynch (2012, p.134), gambling could be defined as: the desire of another person’s property (prize) where the gambler creates a risk (losing his property) with the intention of gaining the other persons possession with nothing to give in return. As per the definition above, many have found it to be immoral to gamble and an immoral way of leisure (Oei 2010, p.26). To justify gambling, people have come up with different explanations. Some have based their arguments on the fact that most of the things we do in life is a gamble (Zimmerman 2004, p.17). Taking your kid to school is a gamble, planting crops to harvest in the future is a gamble and investing in the stock exchange to. Based on this argument, they consider gambling to be morally correct but there are arguments to counter this opinion. Risk is inevitable in all activities we undertake in life, but it being there is risk does not necessarily mean there is a gamble. It is how we act on the risk that makes it a gamble or not. This means if we make every risk a gamble it ends up being leisure which is very dangerous (Breen, Hing & Gordon 2011, p.727). Gambling is not to be regarded as a moral way of leisure. That is why different governments have been forced to govern the way its citizens gamble. This is because when gambling thrives, there are people who will be suffering. Jeonglyeol (2011, p.459) explain this as one wins millions of dollars; there are millions of losers out there that invested hoping to win. That is very different from taking your kid to school. One benefiting at the cost of the others creates a problem in the society. This is because a few will get rich and the rest become poorer in the process. This stops being leisure and becomes a way of making wealth which started out without plan. According to Volberg (2002, p.174) people gamble for the only reason which is to win. As much as they try to regard it as leisure, they do not do it for any other reason. This requires them to sacrifices a portion of their resources and as much as they are willing there people that would want to benefit from that. This brings about exploitation of the people. Business men set up large establishment to facilitate gambling of which they are to benefit. The stakes are put so high so that they attract people and the chances of winning reduced such that it becomes almost impossible to win. This brings about exploitation which cannot be regarded as morally correct (Jeonglyeol 2011, p.460). Research has shown that people are taking on gambling as a way of running away from the real issues of life. They tend to quench their problems, loneliness and anger with gambling. According to Eades (2003, p.52) they hide behind it and the thought of not being able to gamble frightens them and they may do anything in order to gamble and this need for profit that does not end makes them to continue asking for more. They borrow money and take secretive loans in order to support this habit and loosing does not stop them from continuing which may lead to bankruptcy. This could not be considered to be moral and leisure. It would be wrong and misleading (Eidsmore 1994, p.101). In the past decades, so many top of the class establishments have come up that facilitate gambling. As much as it has brought about jobs and opportunities, it is costing the society even more. According to Eades (2003, p.14), gambling is addictive just like drugs. When starting it is innocent and for fun until one cannot stop. They start spending all their resources to support their gambling habits and before long they are left with nothing. If they had dependants, they will suffer as all their resources have been gambled away. This puts the individual in to huge debts that they may be unable to pay or will take a very long time to clear. This should not be considered to be a morally correct way of leisure. The business owner is getting richer and those that are losing are getting poorer and their lives being affected negatively (Daniels 1995, p.41). Although different governments have legalized gambling in the need to try and control the act of gambling, they have not been able to limit the extent to which gambling is taken. Illegal gambling dens come up and this is motivated by the profits that the big establishments generate and hence the small businessman who cannot afford building the huge facilities engage in this illegal gambling business. Majority of the people who go to these establishments are motivated by their illegality and they do enjoy the adrenaline rush that comes with it. This brings a conflict between morality and legality. As much as they consider gambling to be moral and part of leisure, they are engaging in illegal activities. This is a problem as it may motivate individuals to violate more laws as they are already breaking one. This becomes dangerous for all involved (Zimmerman 2004, p.31). The above is true as according to Daniels (1995), gambling has been found to lead gamblers into committing crime. Their addiction pushes them to a point they do not think wisely before acting and of which most of the times end up putting them in trouble with the law. To support their habits, they may be involved with loan sharks whose history has proved are not good people to be engaged with. According to Volberg (2002, p.176), the gambling addicts choose wrongly in life and they tend to stray away from family and use all their resources supporting bad habits such drugs and gambling which they are already addicted. All this starts innocently when gambling is considered to be leisure and before they know it they are caught in the mix. The governments are not helping either. Legalizing gambling as an economical stimulus may be working in the short run but how about the long run. According to Rowe and Lynch 2012, p.137) people who would not consider gambling would be willing to try it out just because it has been made legal and is available. Out of all those who try out, a considerable number of them get addicted to it or may land into huge debts because of it. Gambling is dangerous and it creates an adrenaline rush that has known to have put good people in compromising situations. According to Zimmerman (2004, p.29), the economy of the state of Nevada which is well known for its gambling facilities had an economical growth of twenty five percent when gambling was legalized in that state. The economical growth is great but what are the effects that came with the gambling. The level of crime more than doubled in the state. There was need to increase security so as to assure the people visiting the state it was safe. This came with an added cost to the government that the tax payers of that state who do not necessarily gamble had to foot. Also the cost of living went for the people living in major cities of this state. Zimmerman (2004, p.34) found out people had to move away from what they knew as home because the cost of living was exhausting their resources. Even if this brought development to the state, its people were not the ones to enjoy but the visitors. Even though legal, is this morally correct? Making the local people pay for what they do not necessarily enjoy as leisure. The gambling business has been known to thrive and this has been attracting the illegal gangs into it. The mobs are using these heavens to clean their dirty money. People are not required to explain why they got the money they are gambling with and hence the mobs have utilized this opportunity to use as a front for their illegal businesses and also to clean their money (Klassen & Cosgrave 2009, p.62). They run gambling facilities which act as fronts for their organizations and make it hard for the government to cab their illegal activities. In conclusion, just because gambling is legal does not necessarily mean it is moral. Governments have legalized gambling in their bid improve economies but have not overlooked the effects it has on its people. Although they make all this effort to legalize, it still remains to be immoral in all aspects of it. From the arguments I have made above, gambling is not to be promoted as a way of leisure. The people that are caught up in it may end up in huge debts or bankrupt. As much as it may be legal, it has cost families their loved ones and made innocent people suffer and it should not be moralized to be a good thing. References Breen, H, Hing, N & Gordon, A 2011, ‘Indigenous Gambling Motivations, Behaviour and Consequences in Northern New South Wales, Australia’, International Journal of Mental Health and Addiction, Vol 9, No 6, pp 723-739. Daniels, B 1995, ‘Puritans at play: leisure and recreation in colonial New England’, Palgrave Macmillan, London. Eades, J 2003, ‘Gambling Addiction: The Problem, the Pain, and the Path to Recovery’, Vine Books, New York. Eidsmore, J 1994, ‘Legalized Gambling: America's Bad Bet’, Huntington House Publishers. Jeonglyeol, T 2011, ‘The economic impact of opening a gaming venue in Australia’, Tourism Economics, Vol 17, No 2, pp. 457-464. Klassen, T & Cosgrave. J 2009, ‘Casino State: Legalized Gambling in Canada’, University of Toronto Press, Toronto. Oei, T 2010, ‘Gambling Behaviours and Motivations: a Cross-Cultural Study of Chinese and Caucasians in Australia’ International Journal Society Psychiatry vol. 56, no. 1, pp 23- 34. Rowe, D & Lynch, R, 2012, ‘Work and play in the city: some reflections on the night-time leisure economy of Sydney’, Annals of Leisure Research, Vol 15, no 2, pp 132-147. Volberg, R 2002, ‘The Epidemiology of Pathological Gambling’, Psychiatric Annals, Vol 32, no 3, pp 171–178. Zimmerman, JF 2004, ‘Interstate economic relations’, University of Nevada Press. Read More