I used to be a staunch libertarian, but I’ve started to appreciate the wisdom inherent in regulating vice industries. Just because someone has the ability to do something destructive behind closed doors (smoking weed, getting drunk, gambling, doing porn, etc.), doesn’t mean we need to make it easier for such behavior to become public and mainstream, which is what smartphones essentially allow.
What I fundamentally want to see, however, is a cultural change. Laws can only go so far. Shame, stigma, duty, honor… those are powerful forces that have traditionally kept antisocial behavior behind closed doors. But we’re so ludicrously invested in freedom at all costs that we widely tolerate smoking weed in public, blasting music from our cars, dressing like slobs, etc., not to mention exposing our children to the craziness of social media and the internet.
Aristotle categorized virtue as a "mean between two vices". Doing something about vice requires us to assert the primacy of virtue. But we're allergic to virtue today. Virtue has moral and theological cooties; we don't like thinking about it.
John Stuart Mill completed the dethroning of virtue, replacing it with maximal individual autonomy. Nietzsche saw the problem first. Despite his famous line, he didn't kill God, just recognized that we'd already done the deed ourselves. The common translation is, "yeah, God's dead so let's go party!" But it's really more like, "how will be live now without a divine moral order?" He thought we would get noble, brilliant, powerful overmen who would design and enforce a new moral order from their own will. We did; his name was Adolph. It didn't work out well.
I wish it were as simple as "let's regulate gambling again" or "let's stop online porn." But it's not. First we have to marshal the will to declare gambling or porn "objectively bad", but our current philosophical framework can't attach "bad" to anything consensual. You want to regulate vice? So do I. Dethrone Mill. Unmake the Enlightenment. That's the only way.
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention has to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
TREMENDOUS piece. For starters, we should demand from Congress a law that forces online gamblers (betting and "predictions") to choose betting or welfare. No one wagering money on gambling and prediction sites should ALSO be getting SNAP, other cash welfare programs, or get "refundable" tax credits while owing no federal taxes. Middle class taxpayers should not be forced to pay for other people's gambling. SNAP or Draft Kings? Incredibly low-cost to implement, can be privacy-protecting and instantaneous. All of this stuff is online anyway, and the companies have the tax info on their customers already. Congress will be terrified to do so, as online gambling, predictions, crypto, and AI have unlimited resources to deploy against errant lawmakers. *But it just takes one courageous [or safe-district] conservative lawmaker and a discharge petition* to smoke out the position of every lawmaker on this issue.
You're clearly another practitioner of the morally bankrupt "I got mine, f-you" philosophy that hang out in the comment sections to crap on any of the policy or commentary pieces here.
What the government *should* do is tax the hell out of the *suppliers* to the vice economies, not punish its victims.
The government should also get out of the lottery business itself.
CA Lottery advertisements on the sides of bus stops really bug me. The state's soliciting people who have to ride the bus (the working poor mostly) to throw their money away in a vain attempt to win millions. It's repugnant.
Mike, how about all betting houses have to kick in for gamblers addiction clinics to help them kick a bad gambling addiction supposedly worse than most other addictions? We as a society pay for it now in programs and benefits to try to get these addicts right again and not addicted social problems. Good productive citizens gain. Gambling addicts are not reliable.
So, every year we add up and average what that cost is to society and the gambling houses have to kick in for their treatment? Seems more than fair to me.
While I sympathize with the thrust of this piece, I must correct the analysis. The demand curve with respect to price does not slope upward. Rather, what the essay is really describing is an upward shift of the demand curve as the addiction kicks in. This raises the willingness of the addict to pay more and yields higher revenue for sellers. Best, Frank Tinari
Nice to see some American conservatives recognising this, given that whenever we regulate big tech in Europe we get grief from senior MAGA people for restricting free speech. Its important to remember the US constitution was written nearly 100 years before the widespread adoption of electricity. Your founding fathers did not have social media et al in mind when they were drafting it. It would be better to consider what is good for human flourishing rather than making decisions based on an almost theological reading of an in many ways out of date document.
Thoughtful piece well worth reading and passing along. Unfortunately long form discourse never goes viral but that doesn't negate the beneficial aspects of injecting reason into the public discourse.
Great post! I interviewed Dr. Mike McKee on gambling addiction on my own Stack a few weeks ago - he also talked about personalized technology that allows us to hide our habits better than ever. Thank you for this!
I question how new this is and if it isn't new, it isn't the internet. Archeologists have found porn in hieroglyphics. Every communication technology since has been used for porn since. Hedy Lamar not only invented a key cell phone technology but also did the first movie nude scene.
Inject this into my veins!
I used to be a staunch libertarian, but I’ve started to appreciate the wisdom inherent in regulating vice industries. Just because someone has the ability to do something destructive behind closed doors (smoking weed, getting drunk, gambling, doing porn, etc.), doesn’t mean we need to make it easier for such behavior to become public and mainstream, which is what smartphones essentially allow.
What I fundamentally want to see, however, is a cultural change. Laws can only go so far. Shame, stigma, duty, honor… those are powerful forces that have traditionally kept antisocial behavior behind closed doors. But we’re so ludicrously invested in freedom at all costs that we widely tolerate smoking weed in public, blasting music from our cars, dressing like slobs, etc., not to mention exposing our children to the craziness of social media and the internet.
Aristotle categorized virtue as a "mean between two vices". Doing something about vice requires us to assert the primacy of virtue. But we're allergic to virtue today. Virtue has moral and theological cooties; we don't like thinking about it.
John Stuart Mill completed the dethroning of virtue, replacing it with maximal individual autonomy. Nietzsche saw the problem first. Despite his famous line, he didn't kill God, just recognized that we'd already done the deed ourselves. The common translation is, "yeah, God's dead so let's go party!" But it's really more like, "how will be live now without a divine moral order?" He thought we would get noble, brilliant, powerful overmen who would design and enforce a new moral order from their own will. We did; his name was Adolph. It didn't work out well.
I wish it were as simple as "let's regulate gambling again" or "let's stop online porn." But it's not. First we have to marshal the will to declare gambling or porn "objectively bad", but our current philosophical framework can't attach "bad" to anything consensual. You want to regulate vice? So do I. Dethrone Mill. Unmake the Enlightenment. That's the only way.
>"divine"
>a book written by men
Hmmm.
16 For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,” 18 we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. 19 And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention has to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation. 21 For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 16-21
Hmmm.
Well done and very concerning.
Still can't help think this is just part of human evolution, logically no different than Grandpa smoking 2.5 packs of Marlboro a day in the fifties.
Whatever government touches turns to suck, so open to ideas.
TREMENDOUS piece. For starters, we should demand from Congress a law that forces online gamblers (betting and "predictions") to choose betting or welfare. No one wagering money on gambling and prediction sites should ALSO be getting SNAP, other cash welfare programs, or get "refundable" tax credits while owing no federal taxes. Middle class taxpayers should not be forced to pay for other people's gambling. SNAP or Draft Kings? Incredibly low-cost to implement, can be privacy-protecting and instantaneous. All of this stuff is online anyway, and the companies have the tax info on their customers already. Congress will be terrified to do so, as online gambling, predictions, crypto, and AI have unlimited resources to deploy against errant lawmakers. *But it just takes one courageous [or safe-district] conservative lawmaker and a discharge petition* to smoke out the position of every lawmaker on this issue.
Wrong.
You're clearly another practitioner of the morally bankrupt "I got mine, f-you" philosophy that hang out in the comment sections to crap on any of the policy or commentary pieces here.
What the government *should* do is tax the hell out of the *suppliers* to the vice economies, not punish its victims.
The government should also get out of the lottery business itself.
CA Lottery advertisements on the sides of bus stops really bug me. The state's soliciting people who have to ride the bus (the working poor mostly) to throw their money away in a vain attempt to win millions. It's repugnant.
Ok, ok. You can keep your SNAP *and* keep losing on Draft Kings. Sheesh, such hostility. No wonder you're unemployed.
Mike, how about all betting houses have to kick in for gamblers addiction clinics to help them kick a bad gambling addiction supposedly worse than most other addictions? We as a society pay for it now in programs and benefits to try to get these addicts right again and not addicted social problems. Good productive citizens gain. Gambling addicts are not reliable.
So, every year we add up and average what that cost is to society and the gambling houses have to kick in for their treatment? Seems more than fair to me.
This is a truly excellent article. More of us need to swim against the tide and bring these modern-day, automated vices under control.
While I sympathize with the thrust of this piece, I must correct the analysis. The demand curve with respect to price does not slope upward. Rather, what the essay is really describing is an upward shift of the demand curve as the addiction kicks in. This raises the willingness of the addict to pay more and yields higher revenue for sellers. Best, Frank Tinari
Nice to see some American conservatives recognising this, given that whenever we regulate big tech in Europe we get grief from senior MAGA people for restricting free speech. Its important to remember the US constitution was written nearly 100 years before the widespread adoption of electricity. Your founding fathers did not have social media et al in mind when they were drafting it. It would be better to consider what is good for human flourishing rather than making decisions based on an almost theological reading of an in many ways out of date document.
Here is an example of what the culture of speculation can devolve to. Betting on people competing make money trading crypto over a 30 minute window. 🙁 https://www.wsj.com/finance/the-boxing-ring-where-fighters-trade-crypto-not-blows-7811fea3?st=fjAKZX&reflink=article_copyURL_share
Thoughtful piece well worth reading and passing along. Unfortunately long form discourse never goes viral but that doesn't negate the beneficial aspects of injecting reason into the public discourse.
Dick Minnis
removingthecataract.substack.com
Great post! I interviewed Dr. Mike McKee on gambling addiction on my own Stack a few weeks ago - he also talked about personalized technology that allows us to hide our habits better than ever. Thank you for this!
I question how new this is and if it isn't new, it isn't the internet. Archeologists have found porn in hieroglyphics. Every communication technology since has been used for porn since. Hedy Lamar not only invented a key cell phone technology but also did the first movie nude scene.