zlacker

>>jimbob+(OP)
So, gambling can ruin lives, sure, but the only reason lives are ruined is that money is so essential to everything in life. The problem isn't that our brains love to take risks and get immense pleasure from winning against the odds, it's that society is set up so that we can easily destroy our lives by doing otherwise harmless things that feel good. It very much reminds me of that Iain Banks quote: "Money implies poverty."

The sooner we get rid of money, the sooner people will just bet their imaginary internet points on internet gambling instead of their real life right-to-live-points, and everybody will be better off.

>>t-3+1d2
Money is not the issue here. If something different, call it 'X', had a similar impact on life, then people would gable with 'X'.

>>Rygian+gd2
If 'X' had a similar impact on life to money, it wouldn't be 'X' it would be 'money'. Not to mention, the claim that people will only gamble for real-life money is absurd. I've found gambling in various video games is just as enjoyable as gambling in real life, the only difference is the reward for winning is video-game-points and not money.