Faites Vos Jens
Once again, the annual revelation by the Churches Council on Gambling of yet another increase in the nation's betting activities has led to the usual wail from the puritans of the bourgeois left—this time augmented by the extra- ordinary plaint (which could only have come from the Guardian) that 'when the country as a whole is on its beam ends, is it right that a small minority should be so affluent that it can afford to lose huge sums nightly at the gambling table?' I'm not quite sure whether the Guardian is arguing that our economic problems would be solved if the minority were less affluent, or simply if they gambled less: either way it reminds me of the man who. a few days ago wrote the New York herald 7"ribitne to complain that the White House staff were holding all-night parties while the Vietnam war was going on. To which a second correspondent replied that the real dis- grace was having a war while parties were going on. • But to return to gambling: it seems to me altogether natural that at a time of unprecedented social security we should hanker after risk, and thoroughly healthy that when egalitarianism is becoming a major danger we should turn to a harmless device to produce inequality. What really worries me is those who want to stop it all. A psychological study of the anti-gambler might be quite revealing.
Previous page
