Doesn’t that sound like a good idea?
Actually, if you are of sound mind, it should sound crazy. Which it is, but a depressingly large number of people seem to think casinos are the secret to prosperity. There is a statewide initiative in Ohio this November which, if approved, will allow the building of four casinos, one in each of Ohio’s four largest cities, including Toledo.
That proposal seems likely to pass. Casino referenda have failed in Ohio several times before. But this time it seems likely to pass, thanks in large part to a smart advertising campaign. Ohioans are being told that vast sums of money are leaving the state and headed for casinos in Michigan. Nobody mentions, of course, that much of this money then leaves the Midwest entirely, for casino owners who live elsewhere. So Buckeyes are being spurred on to do their patriotic duty and allow people to ruin their lives closer to home.
This sounds eerily familiar to what happened in Michigan fifteen years ago. Detroit voters had rejected casinos a number of times, in large part because they were opposed by the churches. But then came Casino Windsor, and money began pouring across the river.
So Detroiters changed their minds, and three immense casinos were built - MGM Grand, Motor City, and Greektown. These were supposed to restore the city to gleaming prosperity.
That hasn’t happened. Instead, a lot of poor people who can’t afford it have lost the rent and grocery money. But now that Ohioans may possibly decide to lose their hard-earned money at home, we are fighting back. The solution: Open even more casinos.
A group called Racing to Save Michigan wants to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that would open eight more casinos in Michigan. Five would be at horse racing tracks, in Hazel Park, New Boston, Northville, Mt. Pleasant and Swartz Creek. The rest would be auctioned off, so maybe you could get one too.
But first, it might be a good idea to stop and think about how incredibly destructive this is. On the question of casinos, I am one with the most deeply conservative religious folks.
Casinos are in a practical sense, evil.
Gambling doesn’t create any products or art or tangible wealth. Casinos entice poor people into losing the little bit of money they legitimately have with the tantalizing lure of getting something for nothing. The high-rollers, people who can afford to lose thousands, don‘t line up to play the slots in Detroit.
They take their Lear jets to the glittering palaces of Las Vegas. City officials in Detroit have become dependent on the casinos, which pay local governments millions a year.
But much of the money ends up out of state, and the social cost for those who have lost it is often huge. We have a huge task before us, namely, retooling and reinventing Michigan’s economy.
Making it even easier to encourage people to throw away what money they have isn’t the way to do that.
Totally agree with you, Jack, about the casinos. (I almost always agree with you anyway, & really look forward to your radio & print thoughts - a good dose of common sense.) You took the words right out of my mouth about the casinos - I've said too that I feel one with the religious fundamentalists (altho I'm not one of them) on this one -the casino mentality is just plain evil for society.
Posted by: Mary S. Roth | October 16, 2009 at 02:15 PM