A waitress in my home state of Delaware recently asked about casinos, and why they get special tax breaks — and what does this say about capitalism? She expressed an interest in wanting to understand, and it made me realize how honestly unsure people are about how our society functions. All they have to go on are what the left-leaning media and Big Government politicians say. They’re literally only getting one point-of-view. Here was my reply:
As for the state lottery and casino management, I don’t know any of the details. I know that casinos are run by the government, only with the permission of the government. I’m all for casinos and believe they should exist. Look how they provide jobs and yes, some people become addicted, but that’s true of anything. It’s no reason for them to be illegal.
In my “world,” casinos would not be run or regulated by the government. This would make them for-profit entities, not unlike Apple computers or McDonald’s or Walmart, or anything else in the private sector. There would be more jobs to choose from and better benefits for employees such as yourself.
The private sector is not perfect, because nothing is perfect. But it’s a night-and-day difference between anything the government touches as opposed to anything run for a profit. With profit comes responsibility and ownership. Government and politicians are not responsible for anything, and most of them honestly don’t care. They merely mooch off of others who already put in a hard day’s work, at whatever salary level.
Our politicians in Delaware are very big on Big Government and doing everything they can to keep the government involved in everything. Delaware is a one-party state — Democrat — and no one-party state is healthy. This lack of competition makes our politicians arrogant and indifferent. This has the effect of preventing businesses from coming here to operate. Yes, Delaware does have comparatively lower taxes (only for now), but other than that the state is regulated and kept from growing. Health insurance, for example, is outrageously high here because of regulations. This gives yourself, and others, far fewer choices than you would otherwise have. Also, Delaware is suffering because of the destruction the federal government is doing to the economy nationally.
Our own (former) U.S. Senator, Joe Biden, is part of that destruction and he actively takes pride in it. He thinks he’s doing good, but the man has been a Senator (later Vice President) for nearly 50 years and has never worked a day in the private sector in his life. He has no remote clue what it’s like to go through a day of working like you do, nor does he care. Nor does the elected prince Obama for whom he works. Obama has never worked a day in his life, either. He has never (at least in his adult career) been a server in a restaurant, he has never been a factory worker, he has never run a company, he has never been a health care provider — he has done absolutely nothing but be “cool” and liked by people who don’t have any idea why they really like him.
The amazing thing is that the politicians in Dover and Washington D.C. take credit for everything — for every single job that’s created. The truth is different. If it weren’t for hard-working people like yourself, or the people running the place where you work, there wouldn’t be any jobs at all. I know that higher-ups don’t always act nicely, but if they had more competition with other casinos, and other restaurants, and other businesses, it would be a whole lot different. Employees would have more choices.
In a booming economy, it would be an employee’s market. In a restrained or declining economy — made that way by government regulation and taxation — it’s an employer’s market. If it’s better conditions workers want, they should be pro-capitalism and anti-Big Government. A free marketplace with lots and lots of job alternatives is best for workers. Unfortunately, our Big Government, transfer-of-wealth/entitlement State makes growth impossible. To be fair, this problem began before Obama, but Obama is making it much worse by the day.
What we need is a pro-capitalist, pro-freedom labor movement. The glorified thugs in our government, and government-protected labor unions, haven’t done a thing for the worker, and have actually made all of our lives much harder.