Nobody asked but …
That’s good. That’s right. Because it’s natural. — Jack London
Sometimes it takes awhile to fashion a topic, so I search Google for the keyword “politics,” using the “news” tab. Now I’m struggling to define for myself what are the differences among a regular news day and a slow news day and a no news day and a fake news day. But this is clear, there is no difference between yesterday’s news day and today’s news day.
So, if one is seeking clarity, one is looking with futility at whatever passes for news. I did get some information, obliquely, however, from a local radio sports talk show. Whether this was critical information, I will leave as a homework assignment for the curious. But here are the particulars. The Kentucky legislature is debating various forms of legalized gambling. Firstly, the term, “legalized” is a misnomer, misleading in the extreme — more truth could be ascribed to either “decriminalized” or “monetized.” The point I am pursuing is that human nature is beguiling. We try to dress-up questionable activity with the appearance of propriety with a patchwork of words and “-izations.” The gadflies who inhabit the Hill, in Frankfort, are, nonetheless, observing natural law because human nature is part of Nature.
I tend to observe events through the lens of Natural Law, particularly principles derived from the operations of Natural Law. The first principle is that political control of natural tendencies (aka morals) is impossible. I am not opposed to gambling; I’ll not waste my time being against it. But I am opposed to statist intervention in matters of chance, because such intervention always takes the forms of evil, as in criminalization, decriminalization, monetization, revenuization, legalization, and tax theftization.
As far as I know, wagering takes place in any gathering of human beings. It is not an opportunity for exploitation. Don’t tax it, don’t moralize about it.
— Kilgore Forelle
