I'm sure I'm not the only one who has noticed the proliferation of adverts encouraging us to enjoy the dubious merits of online gambling. Having received my religious formation from within the Methodist tradition, where all forms of gambling were strictly prohibited, I know that I am bound to have a very jaundiced view of the merits of this practice. I am not naïve enough to believe that we should seek to ban gambling. Nor am I a complete religious puritan or killjoy who would want to wag a reproving finger at those who indulge. What I am concerned with, however, is the way in which many of the recent adverts for online gambling seek to portray it as a glamorous, non-problematic practice without consequences. I know that millions gamble and do so safely and responsibly as suggested by the adverts. The adverts are very specious, however, as they portray online gambling as a sexy, lifestyle choice of the comfortably off, middle class.
What they don't show, of course, is the abject misery that is often caused by gambling. Offering people free tokens to get started or to extend their gambling activities is a cynical move that is as ethically dubious as pay day loans that give you so called control and an abundance of choice.
I know that people will always want to gamble and online forms of the practice are inevitable, given the new platforms that now exist. The adverts displaying happy, contented, aspirational couples all enjoying a harmless little flutter is concerning and nauseating. As a former member of the Labour Party (I left the party when Blair took Britain to war in Iraq), the deregulation of gambling was one of the less auspicious acts of Blair's three governments. Many millions may gamble responsibly, but what of the others, often those at the bottom of the social pyramid for whom misery and hardship is their reality of the culture of increased gambling? I know that many will argue for self-control and personal responsibility, but it's much easier to speak of these things when flashy, insincere and cynical adverts are not proliferating our airwaves promoting a world that is barely recognisable to anyone with eyes to see.
My hermeneutic of suspicion will be turned up to 11 as I continue to monitor the adverts extolling the virtues of sexy online gambling.
What they don't show, of course, is the abject misery that is often caused by gambling. Offering people free tokens to get started or to extend their gambling activities is a cynical move that is as ethically dubious as pay day loans that give you so called control and an abundance of choice.
I know that people will always want to gamble and online forms of the practice are inevitable, given the new platforms that now exist. The adverts displaying happy, contented, aspirational couples all enjoying a harmless little flutter is concerning and nauseating. As a former member of the Labour Party (I left the party when Blair took Britain to war in Iraq), the deregulation of gambling was one of the less auspicious acts of Blair's three governments. Many millions may gamble responsibly, but what of the others, often those at the bottom of the social pyramid for whom misery and hardship is their reality of the culture of increased gambling? I know that many will argue for self-control and personal responsibility, but it's much easier to speak of these things when flashy, insincere and cynical adverts are not proliferating our airwaves promoting a world that is barely recognisable to anyone with eyes to see.
My hermeneutic of suspicion will be turned up to 11 as I continue to monitor the adverts extolling the virtues of sexy online gambling.
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