“The Pagcor and the rich should directly channel the money to the needy instead of giving it through gambling if they really want to help,” Lagdameo said, adding, “If they want, they can just give the money to enable the poor to buy rice which is expensive now.”
He's missing the obvious: the rich don't really want to help, which is why we need PAGCOR. Of course it would be great if the rich really did feel they owed society something and tried to give back but, sadly, that isn't the case for the most part.
And those who do want to help don't need a government agency to tell them how. Ayala and Gokongwei and a host of other rich guys have already set up their own foundations for their charitable contributions. PAGCOR casinos are there for the noveau riche and other assholes who like flaunting their wealth.
An old joke goes:
A man wanted to smoke in church so he asked a priest if he could smoke while praying. The priest said no. Undeterred, the man went to another priest. This time he asked if he could pray while smoking. The second priest gave him his blessing.
They're not gambling while donating, they're donating while gambling.
2 comments:
Great post, Sir! By the way, it's not even a sin to "smoke while praying"; the priest in the story was in fact dangerously close to heresy in implying that maintaining physical health is a form of spirituality!
I know people who are dangerously addicted to gambling (skipping lunch to "save" money, borrowing money due to "necessity", not paying debt, etc.), but given the mathematical improbability of safely sustaining a gambling addiction (barring a successful blackjack card-counting strategy, or "useful friends", hehe), the dangers of excessive gambling is almost always the fault of the gambler for being stupid-greedy, not of the casinos or PAGCOR. In a sense, casinos *punish* the greedy. For the normal person seeking moderate "amusement and gaming", legal gambling is no more evil than eating at an expensive restaurant from time to time...and you get to donate to charities, to boot.
Well card counting doesn't really count as gambling addiction; it's just plain cheating. :)
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