Philly Casino Watch

There is so much wrong with the establishment of Casinos in Philadelphia’s historic waterfront district that I am plagued with where to start and how to structure this Blog entry, while maintaining a professional tone and open mind to contrary beliefs. Casinos are bad for communities; they increase crime, overwhelm areas with social problems, destroy local small businesses, lower the quality of jobs, and so on…

Philadelphia’s police department has a hard enough task controlling the city as it is today, add two casinos with 24/7 free unlimited drinks into the equation, and the future looks grim at best. It’s no wonder why crime rates in casino communities are 84% higher than the national average. And these are not the drunken fist fight crimes; we are talking about rape, gun violence, and prostitution!

The social problems that come with the institution of casinos are countless; most notable will be the inevitable bankruptcy, addictions (gambling, drugs, alcohol, prostitution), suicide, homelessness, and many more horrible results from these infernal money machines. I could write an essay on the social evils of the industry citing hundreds of case studies, articles, and experiments – but in respect of the length of this Blog I will not…if you have further interest on this subject, you can start by Googling: casinos social implications.

Why go to the local pub and grab a $5.00 Guinness when you can go to the Casino and drink all night for FREE?! Sounds like a small business killer question to you too? On top of the negative effect it will have on local restaurants and pub’s, think about the traffic situation. They are estimating an additional 40,000 cars per day added in to the already backed up I-95! Delaware/Columbus Avenue are always congested now, add this extra traffic and imagine the gridlock, gas wastage, and additional pollution to the lovely waterfront district of Philadelphia.

So it seems the only argument left for a casino supporter would be, “what about all the extra tax money?” It’s so funny talking to these people – they think its all just “free” money, they notice none of the above problems of crime and social troubles – but rather just the “free” money. The reality is that almost every dollar generated in tax is from our own pockets (the majority of casino goers will be Pennsylvanians), and the other 50% of our dollar goes to the casino investor, whom I guarantee has the education behind him/her not to get addicted to a losing bet! These casinos are just another way for the government to take more money out of our pockets, when will it be enough?! The future makes me sick…and that is why I am Anti-Casino!