Name: 賭場對社區有利嗎？ (Are Casinos Good for Communities?)
Uploaded: 2021-01-14T08:35:59.000Z
Duration: 5 min 12 s
Description: 【看影片學英語】數萬部 YouTube 影片，搭配英漢字典即點即查，輕鬆掌握單字發音與用法，長久累積看電影不必再看字幕。

反身代名詞

When local, or even provincial or state governments find themselves in need of greater revenue

streams to support education, healthcare or other services, but don't want to raise taxes,

基礎被動語態

casinos and lotteries are often promoted as ways to produce a sizable influx of cash,

boost tourism and provide a new source of entertainment for the locals.

It's important that we stop and ask the question, Are Casinos Good for Communities?

As of 2006, Canada's gaming industry was one of the largest contributors to the Canadian

economy at more than $15 Billion per year.

Directly supporting 135,000 full time jobs and generating almost $9 Billion per year

to fund government and community projects.

Clearly, gambling is big business, and when governments are able to cash in on that revenue

in a positive way, there can be benefits.

But are there also economic side-effects?

Yes. There are several, including negative impacts on home valuations and local businesses.

The impact of casinos on neighboring property values is "unambiguously negative," according

to the economists at the National Association of Realtors.

Casinos don't encourage non-gaming businesses to open nearby, because the people who most

often visit casinos do not wander out to visit other shops and businesses.

A casino is not like a movie theater or a sports stadium, offering a time-limited amusement.

It is designed to be an all-absorbing environment that does not release its customers until

Not only do casinos fail to greatly increase the profile of neighbouring businesses, much

of their profit is not from generating new wealth.

The highly touted economic benefits may not be as grand as they first appear:

. . . critics point out that gambling only redistributes existing money, but does not

In fact, it can have a detrimental effect on the surrounding economy as leisure spending

Every dollar spent in a casino is a dollar that might have been spent in local restaurants,

The outlier to this occurs when a Casino is able to attract wealthy high-rollers from

afar who, when they lose, pump money into the economy.

But even if the economic benefit was worth it, what is the cost to society?

. . . there's no dispute that gambling causes crime.

The only questions, he says, "are how big is the impact and can you get a good measurement."

Even the American Gaming Association agrees that gambling addiction is a social problem.

The same article goes on to highlight a 2004 report that almost one-third of pathological

gamblers "admitted having committed robbery in the previous year.

Approximately 13 percent had assaulted someone for money."

Many argue that it is only the few individuals who suffer from the societal effects of gambling

Gambling becomes a problem when it interferes with personal life, work life, personal and

household finances, or physical and/or mental health.

Up to 3% of Canadians suffer from a gambling problem.

This rate is similar to the prevalence of alcoholism in Canada.

Few would argue that alcoholism is only a "minor problem."

If 3% suffer from a gambling problem, that accounts for more than 700,000 Canadians.

Gambling problems affect more than just those with the problem.

While there may be some economic benefits to Casinos, lotteries and other forms of gambling,

they have essentially become another tax on the poor as shown by Americanvalues.org.

In this way, state-sponsored casino gambling creates a stratified pattern that parallels

the separate and unequal life patterns in education, marriage, work, and play that increasingly

Those in the upper ranks of the income distribution rarely, if ever, make it a weekly habit to

Those in the lower ranks of the income distribution often do.

Those in the upper ranks rarely, if ever, contribute a large share of their income to

However, they are not good for communities.

For Tomorrow's World Viewpoint, I'm Michael Heykoop.

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