Gambling downfalls
To the editor:
When a group enters the ‘gray area’ of operating a gambling house by installing gambling machines in their clubs , more happens than meets the eye . Oh sure it is fairly innocent. Sure , it makes money that can go to a good cause . Yeah , maybe it attracts customers to the lounge of these clubs. But , it is illegal .
The penalty , if enforced is no where near ” gray ” , unless the wall of a prison for up to five years counts. Nor is the $5000.00 fine a ‘gray’ matter.
Far worse and more sinister than the downside of gambling on the sucker, is the very real fact that other laws begin to be broken . Tax’s are not paid , for one .When a private social club runs afoul of the I.R.S. they can lose their tax free status and be forced to pay back tax’s for as long as they have been operating a gambling house .
The money taken in can be accounted for in a dubious manner. this leads to skimming . A thief among criminals is not much of a stretch . A little money for a certain few , passed under the table can be intoxicating . And habit forming . This leads to a quest for power in order to continue to control the skim . At this point the clique gathers . It forms into an abhorrent entity that has little resemblance to the membership the private club was chartered for . Sadly , many in the clique have no real idea of what is going on . Pulled along as they are by the clique’s acceptance and the attendant feeling of belonging . Kind of like how children feel when they are accepted into the clique known as a street gang.
And what of the children with those little eyes and tiny ears that see almost everything ? Well they might think , if mom and dad break those laws how bad is it if I take a couple of grandma’s pain pills . We lead by example.
And what of the power collected through criminal behavior ? The clique figures they can get away with the next infraction . They begin to feel themselves superior . They then act that way . What then do they do with the clubs funds ? How do they treat the membership ? Generally they do what they like with the former and disregard the latter . Membership meetings become a nuisance and are rushed through with parliamentary procedure manipulated by the bully pulpit .The voice of the membership suppressed . The so called leaders think they are above to the law . They drive members away . The criminal takes absolute control . “Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely .”
Who benefits from these machines . Ultimately ? How far up the criminal turnpike do those illegally gambled dollars go ?
Martin Hastings