Gambling: Supporters' Arguments and Effects on People's Life

Gambling is the act of betting money or something of value on an event with a random outcome, with the primary intent of winning money or material goods. Gambling has been a daily entertainment since ancient time, as the market develops, gambling has expanded into many areas. For example, regular casinos, sports betting, lotteries and even online gambling (gambling website). Because of addiction to gambling, many people lost their jobs, their families broke up and even affect their mental health. Some people argue that gambling is a recreational hobby that has little negative affects. Although there is nothing wrong with the action of gambling, it is a serious addiction that has a negative effect on people’s life.

Supporters of gambling justify that gambling is legal and encouraged because people’s life is a gamble. They claim that venture capitalists are gamblers, wall street price traders are also gamblers, even people who get married and having children are gamblers. However, it is a fallacy. They only consider the outcome of things without analyzing the process, they ignore that people are successful with their own efforts, learning skills and spending time. this action is a relationship between pay and rearward whereas Gambling is the opposite. Gambling can achieve great wealth with a little effort. The gap between effort and reward attracts people with little money who are desperate for a sudden huge profit.

Supporters also maintain that gambling can promote the development of society and stimulate the economy. They say that gambling can attract people to spend money in the casino, leading to financial flow, and the government obtains revenue from it. It is true that gambling can attract a large number of customers and boost the local economy (like tourism), but these circumstances are not convincing and there is not enough evidence to prove it. In fact, the social problems of gambling far outweigh the economic benefits. Firstly, gambling leads to criminal problems such as drug dealing, robbery and other illegal activities. In an attempt to chase losses, gamblers borrowed money loan shark that they could not repay. After that, they were forced to engage in illegal activities to pay their debts. Secondly, gambling addiction can cause people to lose their jobs and families. Also, there is no tax on casino transactions, and casinos are not owned by the government. Therefore, gambling in casinos does not generate revenue for the government.

The final argument advanced by supporters of gambling is that gambling is an amusement activity which can bring people a thrill of excitement. If people sensibly control the relationship of gambling, it could be a healthy entertainment. However, the influence of gambling is not physical, it is psychological. It is well known that happiness depends on the level of dopamine release in the brain. The research presents that a funny joke can produce 30% dopamine, delicious food can produce 70% and sex can increase to 100%-200%. However, gambling produces dopamine up to 1200% which is 12 times more than normal behaviour. In the face of the temptation of great pleasure, it is difficult for people to control themselves, and that is the reason why gambling is addictive. Because people can obtain a huge amount of happiness for gambling, it will cause people to lose interest in real life. In addition, people lose motivation for most things, for example, they are not interested in the study and do not want to earn money by working.

Overall, it should be evident that gambling should be abolished because of it easy to addiction, which leads to mental and economic problems.