Problem gambling Essay Example for Free

Problem gambling Essay She took one last look out the window as they drove away, the tears streaming down her face. At the age of four, her world had fallen apart. Karina’s life started out as a perfect middle-class family, and soon turned into a broken mess. They had everything, a perfect house in a really nice part of the city, a nice car; everything was wonderful. As Karina got older, she began to notice things weren’t perfect. Her dad was never there. He was always out gambling in one way or another. â€Å"As time progressed we lost the car, and other possessions due to my dad’s gambling problem. It’s not only about gambling and the money. When people gamble, they do other stupid things, he had an affair. My parents decided to get a divorce. My dad didn’t argue, in fact he said that for the safety of our family it would probably be better because a lot of people were angry at him for what he owed them. It was all because of gambling and snowballed into a mess that could have been really dangerous for my mom and me had we stayed around. I’m sad that my life played out in that way at such a young age, and it’s very unfortunate. I know that if he wouldn’t have had gambling around none of those things would have taken place and we would probably still be the family that we were, but unfortunately that’s not how it played out. † Although many people think that legalizing gambling will have a great effect on the economy, I think the negative effects are much more evident. People’s views on subjects often have to do with their ethics. Ethics, as defined by Seiler and Beall, are an individual’s system of moral principles. My ethics lead me to believe that gambling is wrong because I was raised to believe that my family is more important than economic wealth. As it is evident in the story above, gambling can have a major negative effect on someone’s life, and so it is too much of a risk to legalize this dangerous game. Three main reasons that gambling should be kept illegal are that gambling creates tension among the family members, gambling increases crime in the society, and the addiction to gambling is too great for many to overcome. The first reason that gambling should be kept illegal is that gambling creates tension among the family members as the money that should be used for the family is being spent on gambling. Even though gambling might, in some cases, bring money into the state and local economies, there are side effects to having a casino down the street. Forshey (1998) states, â€Å"The gambling jobs, taxes, and recreational values provided by the industry cannot compensate for the social pain-in the form of bankruptcies, white-collar crime, divorce, a compromised political process, an increase in alcoholism-it inflicts. † The drain of a working person’s money that wager’s his or her paycheck and loses is not compensated with the amount of jobs a casino brings to a community. Gambling is a greedy industry that produces nothing more than empty hopes, empty dreams and empty wallets. Anderson states, â€Å"Proponents argue that state lotteries are an effective way to raise taxes painlessly. But the evidence shows that legalized gambling often hurts those who are poor and disadvantaged. † Without casino gambling, many local citizens would spend their money on groceries or clothes, instead of reducing their savings on gambling. As William Thompson states in his article â€Å"Gambling: A Controlling Substance,† It [gambling] is a pleasure, like other entertainment, but in that regard, it is an expensive pleasure. † Thompson then continues with this thought: â€Å"Politicians must recognize that the benefits of gambling are bounded by market structures. Gambling money does not grow on trees. It comes out of the pockets or real people, who otherwise would have spent it on something else. † All of this evidence shoes that gambling should be kept illegal because it creates tension among the family members as the money that should be used for the family is being spent on gambling. A second reason that gambling should be kept illegal is that gambling increases the amount of crime within a society. Gambling often becomes associated with crime, a relationship that seems quite understandable. Not only does gambling continue to be illegal in some forms which makes it a crime to participate in, but also the second half of the issue occurs when gambling increases the amount of street crime in a surrounding area. Crime rates have been significantly higher in places that allow gambling. Kindt states, â€Å"Atlantic City showed a jump in crime when gambling was legalized. The city went from 50th in the nation in per capita crime to first. Problem gamblers may also become more likely to have financial troubles and use illegal activities as a way to pay off their debts and keep up their unhealthy habit. † This graphic shows a report done by the U. S. Department of Justice studied people that were arrested in Las Vegas and Des Moines, Iowa. The results show many connections between gambling and crime. â€Å"More than 30 percent of pathological gamblers who had been arrested in Las Vegas and Des Moines reported having committed a robbery within the past year, nearly double the percentage for low-risk gamblers. Nearly one-third admitted that they had committed the robbery to pay for gambling or to pay gambling debts. In addition, about 13 perfect said they had assaulted someone to get money. † As is evident, gambling should be kept illegal because it increases the amount of crime within a society. We will now look at the last reason why gambling should be kept illegal. Finally, a third reason that gambling should be kept illegal is that the addiction to gambling is too great for many to overcome, resulting in psychological problems for the gambler. Some people argue that if a person wants to gamble badly enough they will do it. They say that one will be able to control his or herself and only gamble when it’s appropriate, but gambling is an addiction that some people can’t escape. The addiction is a nationwide problem, and as much a part of gambling as the dice. As an article in the Omaha World Herald states, â€Å"Problem gambling is the urge to gamble despite harmful negative consequence or the desire to stop, and pathological gambling involves wagering to such excess that it has a severe negative effect on the gambler’s life. † Getting hooked on gambling comes mainly from the action and thrill, an experience chemically the same as those with inhaled substances. They fall under the spell of action. Action is an aroused, joyous state involving excitement, tension, and anticipation of the outcome of a gambling event. It is the thrill of living on the edge. Gambling has little to do with money and everything to do with the feelings of a gambler. William Thompson states, â€Å"People will lie to themselves, also in calculating the money because they don’t want to tell themselves that they were foolish about gambling. † Problem gamblers describe gambling as â€Å"highs† similar to that experienced from many drug substances. Some experience these sensations when just thinking about gambling. How is a person supposed to avoid gambling if he or she is constantly being surrounded with opportunities to place bets and be involved in the â€Å"action†? As Frey suggests casinos increase the number of problem gamblers, and make it that much more difficult to stop for those already addicted. In order to stop the number of pathological gamblers from increasing, the amount of gambling in the United States must decrease as a whole. Pathological gamblers were twice as likely to describe their general health as fair to poor over the past two years and were more likely to acknowledge mental or emotional problems. Rates of alcohol and drug dependence, job loss, and bankruptcy were also significantly higher for pathological gamblers relative to non-gamblers. According to Weinstock and Meyers, â€Å" Almost 20 percent of the people diagnosed as pathological gamblers file for bankruptcy compared to the less than 5 percent of those in the general population. † Percentage of Population with Gambling Problems In order to stop the number of pathological gamblers from increasing, the amount of gambling in the United States must decrease as a whole. As is evident in this bar graph the amount of people with gambling disorders has greatly increased. According to Weinstock and Meyers, â€Å"Recent studies have found that approximately 2 percent of Americans have had severe levels of disordered gambling at some point in their lifetime. Alarmingly, the rate in the Mid-South is even higher. Studies with Mississippi and Louisiana reveal that about 5 percent of the residents in Mississippi have a gambling problem, while in New Orleans, Louisiana 8 percent of the population reported significant problems because of their gambling. † Gambling should be kept illegal because the addiction to gambling is too great for many, even adolescents to overcome. According to Welte, Barnes, Tidwell, and Hoffman, â€Å"Over 2% of U. S. adolescents have experienced problem gambling (i. e. , sub-clinical pathological gambling) in the past year. Females have a . 1% problem gambling rate, and males a 4. 2% problem gambling rate within the past year. † If we don’t put a stop to this now the future of pathological gambling will continue. Regrettably, these pathological gamblers will most likely have to deal with many adverse life events because of their addiction. Many problem gamblers are under so much stress, they commit domestic violence or suicide. There are other, less dangerous ways to find entertainment. So many people suffer every day from their addiction to gambling. The United States should put a stop by banning the gambling industry, and therefore eliminating the harmful side effects of legalized gambling. All of this evidence shows that gambling should be kept illegal because the addiction to gambling is far too great for some people to overcome, resulting in psychological problems for the gambler. The negative effects of gambling out-weigh the positive. The tension created among family members, increased crime in society, and the addiction resulting in psychological problems are just too great of a risk for the people of our society to undergo. So the next time you walk into a casino, remember Karina’s story and how the gambling may affect your life, because even if you’re willing to take the chance, odds are the negative effects of gambling will leave you unlucky in life. It is important for all of you to take note of the consequences and refrain from gambling. Staying away from the dangers of gambling, and setting an example to others is extremely important. No matter what type of personality you have, you can be an influence to others and help stop the spread of gambling all over the nation. I want to challenge you that if you know someone that gambles or you yourself gamble share what you know about gambling and try to put a stop to the habit! References: * Anderson, K. Gambling. Gambling Probe Ministries.Retrieved October 31, 2001 from http://www. probe. org/site/c. fdKEIMNsEoG/b. 4219137/k. C8BD/Gambling. htm * Brandt, K. (Personal communication, October 21, 2011) * Forshey, G. E. (1998). Lonely crusade: Fighting the Gambling Industry. The Christian Century. Retrieved October 31, 2011 from http://vnweb. hwwilsonweb. com/hww/results/getResults. jhtml? _DARGS=/hww/results/results_common. jhtml. 35 * Kindt, J. (1994). The Economic Impacts of Legalized Gambling Activities. Drake Law Review, 40 (1), 50-87. Retrieved October 26, 2011 from https://www.ideals. illinois. edu/handle/2142/16297 * Meyers, A. Whelan, J. Weinstock. (June 1998). Gambling: When it is not a Game Anymore. Business Perspectives, 16-22. Retrieved October 27, 2011 from http://www. allbusiness. com/specialty-businesses/291076-1. html * Problem Gambling: Be aware of warning signs. Omaha World Herald. (March, 19, 2010). Retrieved October 23, 2011 from Library. * Seiler, W. J. and Beall, M. L. (2009). Communication and Ethical Behavior. In Communication: Making Connections (8th Ed) (pp. 8-9). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc. Allyn.

Romanticism In Literature Essay examples -- essays research papers

Romanticism In Literature Romanticism in literature, began around 1750 and lasted until 1870. Different from the classical ways of Neoclassical Age(1660-1798), it relied on imagination, idealization of nature and freedom of thought and expression.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Two men who influenced the era with their writings were William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, both English poets of the time. Their edition of â€Å"Lyrical Ballads';, stressed the importance of feeling and imagination. Thus in romantic Literature the code was imagination over reason, emotion over logic, and finally intuition over science. All of these new ways discouraged and didn’t tolerate the more classic way of literature.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Other significant writers of the Romantic Age are noted still as shaping an age of open-mindedness and freedom. Lord Byron was one of these authors, he wrote â€Å"Don Juan';. Another is Percy Bysshe Shelley wrote in terza rima, a three line iambic pentameter set up of bcb, cdc, ded, and so on. Johan Keats created his own fairy tale land in the lyrical poem â€Å"Ode on a Grecian Urn';.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Nature and the natural surroundings were important in romanticism. Taking pleasure in untouched scenery and the innocence of life was the basis and theme of â€Å"The Seasons'; by the Scottish poet James Thomson. This inspired the nature tradition present in English literature, such as the works by Wordsworth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Another aspect in romantic writings, most times connected with the...

King Lear Imagery Seminar

Symbolism/Imagery/Allegory in King Lear * The Storm (Imagery)Pathetic Fallacy: By acting irresponsibility, Lear as a King and then as a father causes a universal upheaval in the order of the universe. This upheaval is reflected and reinforced by the use of imagery (Pathetic Fallacy). The storm is a part of the universal disorder and is presented in a very artistic manner. The storm is significant as it stands for external as well as internal human naturepresents the inner nature of human beings * In Act 3, Lear rushes from a fight with his daughters into a raging thunderstorm.The combination of thunder and lightning is pretty much what is going on inside Lear's mind, from his fury at his daughters to his impending madness. At one point, Lear admits there's a â€Å"tempest in [his] mind† that's not unlike the storm that rages on the heath (3. 4. 4. ). In other words, the literal storm on the heath is a pretty accurate reflection of Lear's psychological state. * One can argue th at the storm parallels Britain's fall into political chaos. Remember, Lear has divided his kingdom, civil war is  brewing, and the King (Lear) is being treated pretty shabbily by his daughters and some of his other subjects.Alternatively, the powerful storm in which Lear gets caught up is a dramatic demonstration of the fact that  all  humans, even kings, are completely vulnerable to overpowering forces like nature. * The beasts (Imagery): The bestial images and the images of darkness also convey the impression of disorder in the universe. The bestial/animal imagery is partly designed to show man’s place in the chain of being, and bring out the sub-human nature of evil character. It is also used to show man’s weakness compared with animals’ and partly to compare man’s life to the life of the jungle.Because of the bad behaviour of Goneril and Regan, Lear hates them and calls them worse than monsters â€Å"More hideous when thou show’st theeln a child than sea monster. † Then turning to Goneril, he calls her â€Å"gilded serpent† when he comes to know her reality. She is often called â€Å"tiger† and â€Å"sharp-toothed† (vulture), while Regan is called â€Å"most serpents like†. To reveal the evil nature of both sisters, bestial imagery is employed very often as they are called â€Å"adderas† by Edmund. * Moreover in King Lear, the animal imagery is organized around compatible or somewhat foolish i. . deer, cat, dog, rat, cow, serpent, geese, snakes, dragon, foxes, and sparrows. They help to draw the moral drift of the play. They are set up to reinforce or to oppose each other. * Images of darkness and disease: The images of darkness and diseases are used to show chaos and disturbance in nature. In the play, one is conscious all through of the atmosphere of buffeting, strain, and strife, and, at moments, of bodily tension to the point of agony. So naturally does this flow from th e circumstances of the drama and the mental suffering of Lear.This sensation is increased by the generally floating images. To show the human body in torture, the words like â€Å"tugged†, wrenched beaten†, â€Å"scalded†, â€Å"tortured† and â€Å"finally broken on the rake†, are used. Lear, in his agonized remorse, pictures himself as a man wrenched and tortured by an â€Å"engine†. He realizes his follies and he beats his head that lets his folly in. Goneril has the power to shake him with her tongue, the hot tears break from his heart. Lear cries that his heart â€Å"will break into a hundred thousand flaws†.Albany wonders how far Goneril’s eyes may pierce. Gloucester’s flawed heart is cracked, and finally it â€Å"burst smilingly. Kent longs to â€Å"tread† Oswald into mortar. Lear cried painfully â€Å"It is more than murder†. The Fool declares man torn into pieces by gods. Gloucester also cries, â₠¬Å"As flies to wanton boys, are we to gods; they kill us for their sport†. The sense of bodily torture continues to the end. Lear tells Cordelia that he is bound â€Å"Upon a wheel of fire that my own tears do scald like molten lead†. The use of verbs and images of bodily torture are almost continuous and they are used to draw the direct picture as in the treatment of Gloucester; who is equally â€Å"blind† like Lear when it comes to telling the difference between his â€Å"good† son (Edgar) and his bad offspring (Edmund) – Gloucester can't tell that Edmund has manipulated him into believing Edgar wants him dead. Later, Gloucester doesn't even recognize his son Edgar, who has disguised himself as â€Å"Poor Tom† the beggar.Eventually, Gloucester's eyeballs are plucked out, making his literal blindness symbolic of his inability to â€Å"see† the truth about his children. Finally, â€Å"he is bound to a chair, plucked by the beard, his hair is ravished from his chin, and with his eyes blinded and bleeding, he is thrust out of the gates to smell his way to Dover†. * In  King Lear, there's a whole lot of talk about literal vision and metaphorical blindness, especially when it comes to fathers â€Å"seeing† their children for who they really are. When Lear mistakenly believes that Cordelia is disloyal and orders her â€Å"out of [his]  sight,† his pal, Kent, gives him the following advice: â€Å"See better, Lear† (1. 1. 14). In other words, Kent implies that Lear is â€Å"blind† to the fact Cordelia is the â€Å"good† daughter while Goneril and Regan are a couple of evil spawn. We can take this a step further by saying that the root of all Lear's problems is his lack of good judgment – he foolishly divides his kingdom, stages a silly love test to determine which daughter cares for him the most, etc. After Lear is booted out by Regan in her palace, he exclaims: †Å"We'll no more meet, no more see one another: but yet thou art my flesh, my blood, my daughter; or rather a disease that's in my flesh, which I must needs call mine: thou art a boil, a plague-sore, an embossed carbuncle, in my corrupted blood. (2. 4. 29). When Lear goes off on Goneril, he insists she's more like a â€Å"disease that's in [his] flesh† than a daughter (his â€Å"flesh and blood†). Goneril, he says, is â€Å"a boil, a plague-sore,† a nasty little â€Å"carbuncle† and so on. In other words, Goneril, is kind of like a venereal disease. ) Lear is really good at insults this is a pretty elaborate way for Lear to tell Goneril that she  makes him sick. On the one hand, this passage is in keeping with just about everything else Lear says about women (especially Goneril and Regan) – Lear frequently associates women with sexual promiscuity and pretty much blames all the problems in the world on the ladies. * Something similar is at work inà ‚  King Lear. When Lear imagines that  his body  is diseased, we can't help but notice that his  kingdom  is also not doing so well.After all, it's just been hacked up into pieces by Lear and, with Goneril and Regan (and their spouses) now in charge, it's quickly becoming a  corrupt  place. What's more, civil war (not to mention a war with France) is on the horizon. In King Lear's mind, the corruption of his kingdom is caused by Goneril and Regan so, it's not so surprising that he refers to Goneril (in the passage above) as a â€Å"plague-sore. † * Nakedness vs. Clothing (Imagery): When Edgar disguises himself as â€Å"Poor Tom†, he chooses to disguise himself as a naked beggar.Then, in the big storm scene, Lear strips off his kingly robes. Lear has seen Poor Tom (naked) and asks, â€Å"Is this man no more than this? † Then, presumably to find out if man is indeed â€Å"no more than this†, he strips down to his birthday suit. Shakespeare seems to be implying that all men are vulnerable. In fact, man is nothing more than â€Å"a poor bare, forked animal† (3. 4. 10). Donning rich and opulent clothing (like Goneril and Regan do), then, is merely a futile attempt to disguise man’s true, defenceless nature. Nothingness (Symbol): Shakespeare plays on the word â€Å"nothing† and the idea of nothingness or emptiness throughout  King Lear. Here are a few significant moments from the play: In Act 1, when Lear stages his love test and asks Cordelia â€Å"What can you say to draw a third [of the kingdom] more opulent than your sisters? â€Å", Cordelia replies, â€Å"Nothing. † Lear can't believe what he's hearing. â€Å"Nothing will come of nothing,† he tells her. â€Å"Speak again. † (In other words, you'll get absolutely  nothing  from me unless you speak up about how much you love me. By the way, the phrase â€Å"Nothing can come of nothing† is a variation on the famous ph rase â€Å"ex nihilo nihil fit† – that's Latin for â€Å"from nothing, nothing comes,† which is an ancient Greek philosophical and scientific expression. The word â€Å"nothing† shows up again in the play when the Fool tells Lear he is nothing without his crown and power: â€Å"now thou art an O without a figure. I am better than thou art now; I'm a fool, thou art nothing† (1. 4. 17). According to the Fool, King Lear is a zero and is no better than a â€Å"shealed peascod† (an empty peapod).The Fool also calls the retired king â€Å"Lear's shadow,† which suggests that Lear, without his crown, is merely a shadow of his former self. The idea is that Lear, (whose status has changed since retirement) is  nothing  without his former power and title. To sum up, imagery plays an important part in King Lear. The play is a complex work and makes use of imagery effectively to convey the themes, and to give poignancy to the action. The disru ption caused by Lear’s initial inability and refusal to â€Å"see better† is reflected in the images of darkness, animalism, and disease.

Government As A Market Economy - 1386 Words

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