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Is there anything wrong with building pokie machines? Should they not be available for people who are able to play them responsibly? I believe it's up to the

Is there anything wrong with building pokie machines? Should they not be available for people who are able to play them responsibly? I believe it's up to the government to regulate these things and ensure fair business practice.

naravara 7y ago
The old saying goes that if mankind were angels we would need no governments. So saying the govt. ought to do something is functionally saying something is wrong with making the machines.
- gentaro 7y ago
  Absolutely not, suggesting that the government should regulate gambling and responsible gaming has nothing to do with building the machines outright. As I said, these machines should be available if you can use them responsibly, the government should dictate policy that gambling operators should adhere by to ensure that users don't take things overboard. Blaming the engineer who built the machine makes for an easy scapegoat, of course, but if the issue isn't addressed on a societal scale, there will always be another engineer to replace him.
  - naravara 7y ago
    The issue is that in this case they're specifically and willfully being engineered to foster irresponsible behavior. >Blaming the engineer who built the machine makes for an easy scapegoat, of course, but if the issue isn't addressed on a societal scale, there will always be another engineer to replace him. We can still say theft is bad regardless of the legal enforcement around theft. Some things are just morally wrong.
    - gentaro 7y ago
      > We can still say theft is bad regardless of the legal enforcement around theft. Some things are just morally wrong. I have to assume that your perspective is being coloured by personal experience. At this point, your argument is simply: "Building pokie machines is bad because I think it's bad". Sorry, but I disagree with that, as stated before, they should be available to those who can use them responsibly.
      - deleted 7y ago
        [deleted]
      - naravara 7y ago
        Sure. Let's make meth available to kids too while we're at it. Why expect social or moral responsibility from people at all?
- SkyBelow 7y ago
  To give a counter example, I think we can easily agree that government should regulate vehicles being driven on public roads and yet we don't mean to imply that there is something wrong with making vehicles to be driven on public roads.
  - naravara 7y ago
    We can say, however, that there is something wrong with making vehicles that are inherently unsafe when on public roads. That's more in line with making products to foster addiction or compel people to behave in ways that are against their best interests.

naravara 7y ago

The old saying goes that if mankind were angels we would need no governments. So saying the govt. ought to do something is functionally saying something is wrong with making the machines.

gentaro 7y ago
Absolutely not, suggesting that the government should regulate gambling and responsible gaming has nothing to do with building the machines outright. As I said, these machines should be available if you can use them responsibly, the government should dictate policy that gambling operators should adhere by to ensure that users don't take things overboard. Blaming the engineer who built the machine makes for an easy scapegoat, of course, but if the issue isn't addressed on a societal scale, there will always be another engineer to replace him.
- naravara 7y ago
  The issue is that in this case they're specifically and willfully being engineered to foster irresponsible behavior. >Blaming the engineer who built the machine makes for an easy scapegoat, of course, but if the issue isn't addressed on a societal scale, there will always be another engineer to replace him. We can still say theft is bad regardless of the legal enforcement around theft. Some things are just morally wrong.
  - gentaro 7y ago
    > We can still say theft is bad regardless of the legal enforcement around theft. Some things are just morally wrong. I have to assume that your perspective is being coloured by personal experience. At this point, your argument is simply: "Building pokie machines is bad because I think it's bad". Sorry, but I disagree with that, as stated before, they should be available to those who can use them responsibly.
    - deleted 7y ago
      [deleted]
    - naravara 7y ago
      Sure. Let's make meth available to kids too while we're at it. Why expect social or moral responsibility from people at all?
SkyBelow 7y ago
To give a counter example, I think we can easily agree that government should regulate vehicles being driven on public roads and yet we don't mean to imply that there is something wrong with making vehicles to be driven on public roads.
- naravara 7y ago
  We can say, however, that there is something wrong with making vehicles that are inherently unsafe when on public roads. That's more in line with making products to foster addiction or compel people to behave in ways that are against their best interests.