OCR Text |
Show INHERENT EVIL IN GAMBLING Fundamental Error Pointed Out b) English Philosopher. Listen to a conversation about gam bllng; and, where reprobation Is expressed, ex-pressed, note the grounds of tho reprobation. rep-robation. That it tends toward tho ruin of the gambler; that It risks the welfare of family and friends: that it alienates from business, and leads Into bad company these, and such as these, are the reasons given for condemning con-demning the practice. Rarely Is there any recognition of the fundamental reason. Rarely is gambling condemned condemn-ed because It is a kind of action by which pleasure is obtained at the cost of pain to another. Tho abnormal ob-talnment ob-talnment or gratification, or of the money which purchases gratification. Implies, first, that thero has been put forth equivalent effort a kind which, In somo way, furthers tho general good; and implies, secondly, that thoso from whom tho money is received, re-ceived, got, directly or Indirectly, equivalent satisfactions. But in gambling gam-bling tho opposite happens. Benefit received does not Imply efforts put forth; and tho happiness of tho winner win-ner involves misery of tho lo3er. This kind of action is therefore essentially anti-social sears the sympathies, cultivates cul-tivates a hard egoism, and so produces pro-duces a general deterioration of character char-acter and conduct. Herbert Spencer |