Ep. 63: Gambling and Neoliberal Rot - How Our Most Regressive Tax Flies Under the Radar
Added 2019-01-23 15:56:18 +0000 UTCAs more and more states turn to casinos and lotteries to ‘fill the gap” in 'falling' state budgets, the predatory and regressive nature of gambling as an alternative to increasing taxes on the rich avoids nearly any media scrutiny among centrists and liberals. Even the Left has mostly ignored the issue––ceding criticism of our most regressive tax to the Christian Right, who largely oppose gambling for all the wrong reasons.
In this episode, we explore how lotteries and casinos have come to represent the last throes of the false neoliberal promise of "jobs” and “growth.” Throughout much of the United States, specifically the Rust Belt and Midwest, casinos and prisons are increasingly the only growth industries, entrenching the shift from an industrial economy to one that exclusively preys on the poor and desperate in a never-ending race to the bottom. Beyond the glitz and easy “tax revenue” lies a massive transfer of wealth from the poor, black and elderly to the super wealthy - achieved, slowly over decades, with zero sustained criticism from the media.
We are joined by two guests: John Balzarini, Assistant Professor of Sociology & Criminal Justice at Delaware State University, and Les Bernal, National Director of Stop Predatory Gambling.
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Guests
John Balzarini, PhD is Assistant Professor of Sociology in the Department of Sociology & Criminal Justice at Delaware State University.
Les Bernal is the National Director of Stop Predatory Gambling.
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Show Notes
The lottery Is a Tax — An Inefficient, Regressive and Exploitative Tax
Max Galka | September 3, 2015 | The Huffington Post
4 ways the lottery preys on the poor
Alvin Chang | January 13, 2016 | Vox
The Bad Bet: How Illinois Bet on Video Gambling and Lost
Jason Grotto, Sandhya Kambhampati & Dan Mihalopoulos | January 16, 2019 | ProPublica
The big swindle: In lotteries, the poor are the biggest losers
David R. Just | December 18, 2013 | CNN
How you name it matters: 'gambling' vs. 'gaming'
Ashlee McGandy | October 15, 2013 | Cornell Chronicle
18 Signs That The Lottery Is Preying On America's Poor
Dina Spector, Gus Lubin & Michael B Kelley | April 6, 2012 | Business Insider
The Economic Winners and Losers of Legalized Gambling
Melissa Schettini Kearney | February 2005 | Brookings Institution
Is The Lottery Shortchanging Schools?
Armen Keteyian & Phil Hirschkorn | October 7, 2007 | CBS News
Math Test: How Much Do Schools Get from the Lottery?
Kate Pastor | October 24, 2013 | City Limits
The New York Lottery, Now Kid-Friendly?
Matthew Vaz | March 26, 2014 | In These Times
Want False Hope With That Lottery Ticket?
Rick Green | July 3, 2009 | The Hartford Courant
Per capita income down, lottery sales up
L. Nicole Trottie | June 25, 2009 | West Suburban Journal
Puerto Rico Tax Shift to Legalize Slot Machines Outside Casinos
Yalixa Rivera | November 14, 2018 | Bloomberg
John W. Welte, et al. | Winter 2004 | Journal of Gambling Studies
Hitting the Jackpot or Hitting the Skids: Entertainment, Poverty, and the Demand for State Lotteries [PDF]
Garrick Blalock, David R. Just & Daniel H. Simon | December 14, 2004 | Cornell University
From Back Room to Living Room: Changing Attitudes Toward Gambling [PDF]
Rachel A Volberg, Marianna T. Toce & Dean R. Gerstein | August/September 1999 | Public Perspectives
Heavy Players Support Lottery Cash Cow
Ira Chinoy & Charles Babington | May 3, 1998 | The Washington Post
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References
An American Declaration on Government and Gambling
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Transcript
For a full transcript of this episode, go here.
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Comments
Love this episode, thank you. Until I originally heard this, I avoided slot machine gambling because in psychology we got our assigned rats* addicted by using the same reinforcement system used by slot machines. At the time I felt awful for the rats whose lives existed solely to have a student get it addicted, poor thing pressed the lever obsessively without a break. Then I went into a casino and saw people, most with lit cigarettes and buckets of coin looking far too much like our poor addicted rats. Our rats had no choice, thanks to myself and the other students in the introductory course. Did some graduate students recruit volunteers, tweak the reinforcements and manipulate the lever pullers until they couldn’t step away? Anyway, this episode took my worries to a whole new level.
2022-05-17 05:56:50 +0000 UTCLoved the episode. You may be interested in doing a follow up episode with an online poker player to discuss how Sheldon Adelson destroyed online poker back in 2009/2010. My husband was able to make a living playing Texas Hold'em online until it was made illegal and assets were seized by the government because of Adelson's lobbying... I can put you in touch with him if you want more background information or contacts in the online poker community
2019-01-29 22:09:08 +0000 UTCGrowing up I would hear the 'tax on the ignorant' line from my dad but I've never thought of it as a tax on the poor. This was such a well done and devastating episode, great work guys.
Keith Grennan
2019-01-23 19:03:47 +0000 UTC
