Manne wrote:
[CENTER]Internet Gambling - Lost Opportunities Hurting Americans[/CENTER]
Once you leave the U.S. the situation becomes rather clear and quite depressing. The rest of the world is full of potential and opportunity when it comes to online gambling. New choices and options merely await implementation in this business which seemingly changes every six months. The U.S. once held all the cards in this market, but has been forced to fold.
So it goes for Americans caught up in the high-stakes game we call the online gambling industry. Spending time in Macau, the new king of gambling, made me almost too depressed to think about the future. The American government has succeeded in scaring away the majority of the industry from even contemplating a future which includes us.
Everyone knows online gambling won't completely turn its back on Americans, but we won't be at the forefront. The newest and best options will pass us by. The newest wrinkles and twists on betting will only come to us second-hand. Worst of all, the endless opportunities for jobs and taxes will instead go to people in Malta, the Philippines, or any of a number of countries embracing the industry.
America is so fat and rich it turns its back on high-paying jobs in a quickly growing technology sector. Other countries are fighting to create loopholes and tax breaks that send out a red carpet for this nascent industry which merely serves burgeoning demand. Even China, not exactly a beacon of freedom of choice, grudgingly accepts they must allow some online gambling or face it being an essentially uncontrolled industry.
American policy makers and law enforcement somehow believe they can do what even tightly controlled China cannot. People will gamble and won't accept theoretical limits on how they can do it. While its clear the wish to keep these activities an American endeavor on U.S. soil drives these misguided efforts, the rest of the world is going in a completely opposite direction. Many influential companies have just throw their hands in the air and stated they will just serve the willing and leave Americans to their folly.
Sadly we must accept the fact that while most of us crave the biggest and best action, it won't be seen on our shores first. Just a year ago only a fool in this industry would have thought anything of a business plan where the best ideas and investments ignored the American market. Asia still has virtually no legal online gambling and many European countries are saturated in it.
So thank Congress and Bill Frist for sending us all into a state of pointless decay. Yes slightly fewer people might gamble online, but how do we as a society win from this? Money not wagered online still tends to find a way into action. The gambling activities are rarely subverted in whole. Besides last time I checked Americans are not lacking in frivolous or downright dumb ways to spend their money.
Many of these ways to spend money increasingly support lower paid service jobs and areas with little American value added. Shopping to your heart's content and buying made in China products does a lot less good than products designed by Americans, sold by Americans, and taxed by Americans Instead some young Filipino will double his earnings opportunity just because he speaks English, while some potential American sportsbook employee will have to continue to compete against an outsourced Indian or Chinese resource.
Even worse Americans are in the vanguard of these efforts and could be selling ideas and taking countless bets from foreign lands. You would think lawmakers would realize attempting to stop unstoppable forces only means wasted opportunities. Maybe instead of listening to religious groups tell them what harm online betting does to society, our lawmakers should take a tour of an international book to see there really are winners when this industry operates within reasonable guidelines.
Wild Bill
(EOG.com)
And dare I say the United States is about to lose another battle? Only this time, innocent people won’t end up being killed fighting a war that cannot be won.
CHEERS!!