First off, I would like to take a second to apologise to everyone that is a part of this. I want to apologise to General Disarray, for not providing him with a good debate to judge. I want to apologise to Baller, for not giving him an engaging opponent. Lastly, I want to apologise to FTS, for not doing this sooner. With that out of the way, I need to tell you that this will be my only post in this thread because I am leaving for London on Sunday and I will be out tomorrow all day. Sorry again. Anyway, on with it.
Resolved: Law against gambling are a violation of free commerce.
In this debate, I have been asked to defend the notion that laws and bills passed by governments that are against gambling are not a violation of free commerce. To help narrow this down a little, I feel I will cover some of the aspects of why laws against gambling do not affect free-commerce. In this debate, I feel that the main issue that we have to address in this debate is whether or not commerce is impeded by gambling and the laws that may or may not be held against it in differing states and nations.
The first of which is online gambling. Over the last 5 years or so, internet gambling has become more and more prevalent as people do not have to leave the house to gamble. This has given itself to the rise of such sites like Pokerstars and other casino emulating sites that allow users to play on independent severs worldwide. The number one reason that this is not a violation of free commerce is because it cannot be locked down to one location. It runs on servers that are across the world and as of this moment, there is no law that prohibits internet gambling. The primary reason that free commerce is not affected by the laws being brought in against it in casinos is because players and gamblers are taking their business elsewhere to where they can play without the need to be worrying if they are going to be incarcerated for doing something they enjoy.
Casinos are all about competition and the same thing can be said of internet gambling. If an American company is not allowed to give users the opportunity to gamble, then they will be beaten to the punch by gambling sites that are offshore and commerce will continue unaffected in the offshore region. This is not a violation though, this is just taking advantage of a flawed system that allows for wiggle room when it comes to the legality of gambling. Some companies are getting more profit than they could have dreamed about because of the turmoil that has plagued some states in the Unites states. This is not a violation of free commerce, it is exactly what free commerce is all about. It is the backbone of capitalism and is certainly not a bad thing. Laws that hamper physical casinos are not the same online and thus are exempt from the laws. The idea of free commerce is still in tact merely because it is untouchable because of international law.
Another point that must be remembered is that many gamblers see casinos and gambling as the forbidden fruit. Like a child, once we are denied something, it makes the thrill of getting that thing all the better. Many addictive gamblers are the same. They get the same high as drug users might as they bet and get themselves into a bigger and bigger financial blackhole. It is said that an addictive gambler owes around $80,000 to casinos and gambling locations. The amount of money that goes into a casino on a daily basis simply because of the law that stand against the casinos being there is mind-numbing. Those who dare to take on the laws and function under the scope of gambling restrictions are doing very well and could be doing much better due to the sever lack of competition that you can see in places like Las Vegas. In Nevada, gambling is legal and the city is awash with casinos. The competition is fierce and people are more likely to split their incomes between these casinos. However, if you are the only casino in a restricted zone, you are going to be doing very well.
Despite laws against gambling, gambling still remains in tact and thousand of dollars is lost by the public every minute. Free commerce is still in tact around the globe and no amount of laws will stop that.
