Sports betting and the spread of gambling is a symptom. Much like professional sports being a vehicle for advertising due to the teams' brand value. Or like a team having brand value due to the spectators it attracts. Or spectating someone else's physical activity.
There's inequity at every step here. And the fact that even a Jacobin article only addresses the terminal symptom should tell the reader how unimaginative our society has gotten.
Here's a thought: the guys in the article could have placed the same bets on themselves before their pick-up basketball game instead of draftkings. Should those bets that actually encourage physical activity be taboo too? The author suggest betting for a few pushups – great, but is that not gambling?
Of course, I'm ignoring a few other symptoms in the puzzle: states like Illinois facing _budgetary issues_ and taxing _addicts_. Limiting gambling availability might be a good band-aid for some of the symptoms, but I'd wager that solving root causes might be more worthwhile.
There's inequity at every step here. And the fact that even a Jacobin article only addresses the terminal symptom should tell the reader how unimaginative our society has gotten.
Here's a thought: the guys in the article could have placed the same bets on themselves before their pick-up basketball game instead of draftkings. Should those bets that actually encourage physical activity be taboo too? The author suggest betting for a few pushups – great, but is that not gambling?
Of course, I'm ignoring a few other symptoms in the puzzle: states like Illinois facing _budgetary issues_ and taxing _addicts_. Limiting gambling availability might be a good band-aid for some of the symptoms, but I'd wager that solving root causes might be more worthwhile.