Brian T. Watson
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Recently, Andrew Bacevich, author of "The Limits of Power," wrote that the choice Americans face is not between socialism or capitalism; or imperialism or isolationism; or Republican or Democratic administrations.
Referring to the lessons embodied in the never-ending Mideast and central Asian conflicts, the flight of jobs to the Third World, the Wall Street meltdown, and the Gulf oil gusher, he forthrightly states that the choice we face is between being smart and being stupid.
Indeed, the problems we confront are becoming bigger and more complicated, more interconnected, more difficult to solve, and they possess high stakes. It is becoming increasingly apparent that neither government alone, nor private enterprise alone, can produce both a world at peace and a global economic system that is functional and sustainable. A parallel challenge, he notes, is to create a stable national economy in a globalized world.
The government, especially, is fractured by the demands of powerful, mostly corporate, special interests and a citizenry that is angry, confused and impatient, one that has become victimized by a myriad of developments and changing realities over the past 35 years. Additionally, the citizenry has been alternately misled, manipulated, pandered to, entertained, dumbed down, lulled, and deliberately wedged apart.
In a democracy, there is a danger in abusing the populace in these ways. We may not be up to the task when circumstances or a crisis require a smart, difficult, collective, national response. In a sort of fitting circle, perhaps we have become as immature, irresponsible, and myopic as the power players who have been profiting most from business as usual. (And, yes, who have sometimes been doing our bidding).
It is against that larger backdrop that the Massachusetts casino gambling proposals should be seen and evaluated. Last week the state Senate released a summary of its bill that would authorize the construction of three large destination casinos distributed across the state. A new state agency, new state police unit, and new control board would be required to create rules for the gambling industry, monitor compliance, and enforce the laws.
Some casino revenue would be dedicated to funding these regulatory and policing functions, and additional revenue would be allocated to mitigate a range of costs that would be felt by host and adjacent communities. Lastly, some money would be set aside annually to pay for the costs and damages created by "problem" and clinically addicted gamblers.
In April the House of Representatives passed its version of a gambling bill, and if the Senate approves one of its own this month, the two bodies may seek to fashion a compromise version this summer.
Although the Legislature has been eager to tout the revenue that the state would receive from casinos, it has chosen not to calculate the financial costs that would accompany expanded gambling. Yet those costs will be significant and permanent and are likely to increase over time, and in four to eight years even surpass casino payments to the state.
Approving casino legislation would require the House, Senate and governor to agree that the lives and families of approximately 40,000 new problem gamblers are disposable. And that, furthermore, the state will partner with casino owners in an aggressive and public campaign to encourage gambling.
Legislators argue that new casinos would produce temporary construction jobs and permanent casino jobs. But, like Walmart, they'll kill local-economy jobs and perpetuate the real economy's slow death-spiral.
The discussions that have been provoked by the Gulf oil gusher are making it clear that our nation and the global community are at a threshold of sorts. We will choose one path or another. Which path we take is not yet clear, but some things are becoming clear.
For too long we have had governments no better than ourselves. And we have been too easy on ourselves. We have not read, followed world events, connected dots, or understood the issues within our own economy. In short, we haven't been the citizens that we now need to be.
Successful casinos require about 80 percent of their clientele to be stupid. But our state, nation and democracy can no longer afford to encourage mindlessness and credulity, and to abuse and sacrifice citizens. And it is doubly damaging to the habits-of-mind that we need to watch our own government do those very things to us.
Casinos are nothing more than a distraction and a smokescreen within a real economy. It is irresponsible for our government to pretend otherwise.
Ominously, the kind of thinking that proposes throwing tens of thousands of people away — and teaching the rest of us to accept it — is not the kind of thinking that will be helpful in addressing the big questions raised by the Gulf oil gusher.
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Brian T. Watson of Swampscott is a regular Salem News columnist. Contact him at watson@nii.net.
