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There is a market for the gamblification of everything because there is no other widely accessible path for young people to build a future. A college degree is

There is a market for the gamblification of everything because there is no other widely accessible path for young people to build a future. A college degree is no longer a guaranteed path to a stable, well paying job. Building wealth through real estate is no longer viable. With no clear options the only visible path to building a modicum of wealth is timing the next big crypto rugpull, hitting a 5 leg parlay, ripping a shiny charizard etc... We can (and should) try and regulate away this kind of gambling but the underlying problem remains.

xg15 3mo ago
The irony being that gambling is about as far from "guaranteed" or "stable" as you can get. But it does fit the ultralibertarian mindset best, I guess. The right to the pursuit of happiness, not to actually getting it.
- criddell 3mo ago
  The best way to win at gambling is to be the house.
  - mothballed 3mo ago
    Even better, be the guy that taxes the house and winners, sells the licensing to the house (or friends of them that have privileged advantage to sell compliance services), or the guys who determine whether the house gets its zoning or construction exemptions.
    - tavavex 3mo ago
      How is that better? Taxes are a cut of the profits and they mostly are spent back on other goods and services. The owners of the gambling business take the remaining majority of the money and use it to scale themselves up, remove competition or to enrich their ranks. If you want to exist as a parasite, option #2 is the way to go. It is crazy to me that even when faced with the most irredeemable industry, one that is predicated on abusing addiction and human irrationality, one that takes and gives back nothing, the first reaction to this is to brush all of that off and go "but what about the construction permits?" The American adoration for anything 'private' knows no bounds. When our corporate overlords will be scamming, poisoning and forming quasi-dictatorships to rule over us all for profit, they'll still be cheering that at least it's not one of those pesky public governments.
  - natebc 3mo ago
    Really it's the only way to win at gambling.
afavour 3mo ago
> A college degree is no longer a guaranteed path to a stable, well paying job. Building wealth through real estate is no longer viable. ...and winning a life's fortune via gambling is even less viable. I agree with what you're saying about the lack of guaranteed paths to prosperity but turning to gambling is not a logical outcome stemming from it. There is no logic in gambling at all. It is purely a vice that preys on people's weaknesses.
- PhilipRoman 3mo ago
  If you're already losing and losses are capped past some point (worst case just kill yourself), high stakes gambling is quite logical. Of course in reality, gamblers are rarely driven by game-theoretical analysis.
  - afavour 3mo ago
    I think we're trying really hard to rationalize a fundamentally irrational behavior here. The vast majority of people betting on Kalshi are not thinking "well, worst case I'll just kill myself".
deaton 3mo ago
Of course there are paths to success, and they are available, but we live in a tiktok world where everyone wants to be a millionaire tomorrow and not in 20 years.
- doctorwho42 3mo ago
  What's being a millionaire in 20 years going to be worth?
SpicyLemonZest 3mo ago
They're not independent problems. Right now, someone on the East Coast is taking their lunch break; in a world without phone gambling, they would be studying business principles so they can put their name up for a manager role when it opens. But instead they're trying to pick the right sports bet that will make them rich this evening.
nradov 3mo ago
That perception bears almost no relation to reality. The most reliable path to building a modicum of wealth has remained the same for generations: start a small business in some boring field and work your ass off for 80 hrs/wk. Building wealth through real estate is also still totally possible outside of the HCOL metro areas. Try unfashionable areas like Cleveland or Oklahoma City. And let's not have any low-effort comments claiming that there are no good jobs available in those places: the actual economic data on median income to housing price ratios tells another story.
- Analemma_ 3mo ago
  “Building wealth through real estate” should not be possible, and it’s half the reason we’re in this mess: people treating their homes as a store of wealth and blocking new construction to protect the value of their investment has locked young people out of the housing market. Hence all the gambling. What you should be hoping is that YIMBY policies carry the day in the end and “building wealth through real estate” is eliminated as a thing.
  - throwitaway222 3mo ago
    > Building wealth through real estate should not be possible I am sympathetic to this argument, but there are problems. How do you get homes built if you make this change?
    - Analemma_ 3mo ago
      Construction companies can still turn a profit building and selling them. The idea is that houses should be depreciating assets, like cars. If houses are appreciating in value it means you're not building enough of them.
      - s1artibartfast 3mo ago
        or that the cost to build them is going up.
      - 3mo ago
criddell 3mo ago
> A college degree is no longer a guaranteed path to a stable, well paying job. College never guaranteed anything. A college education may still be (statistically) a good investment: https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2025/04/is-college-still-worth-it/ https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2025/04/is-col... Aside from the financial arguments, the social and personal development opportunities of living and studying with your peers can be pretty great in my experience. I went to a decent school and was surrounded by a lot of very interesting and smart kids and I had some truly great professors. I was really pushed beyond what I thought I could do and my biggest regret is that I didn't take a little extra time for more courses in the humanities (specifically literature and art history).
mullingitover 3mo ago
> There is a market for the gamblification of everything because there is no other widely accessible path for young people to build a future. Gambling is the closest we've come to figuring out how to directly tax hope.
- mrguyorama 3mo ago
  People who say they use gambling to "dream" or "Hope" are just coping. You don't have to spend a single penny to dream or hope some sort of better outcome for yourself in the next few days that has much better odds than winning the lottery. They just like gambling.
  - mullingitover 3mo ago
    > They just like gambling. So why to people suffering from poverty like gambling so much more than everyone else?
    - walls 3mo ago
      Because it's the only possible way out for them.
roadside_picnic 3mo ago
> no other widely accessible path for young people to build a future This is exactly right. Widespread gambling has a fundamental nihilism baked into it. If you believe hard work and frugality are the best path to success, then gambling doesn't feel like a good use of your income and energy. But if you feel like your dreams are falling out of reach despite your hard work, if it starts to look like even big investors are really just playing a game (often with loaded dice) rather than acting on fundamentals, if grift seems like a more reliable path to success then hard work and ingenuity, then all of a sudden gambling seems a lot more sensible. Even if the odds aren't in your favor, you can at least get lucky when you gamble. When the game feels rigged its easy to believe that hardwork is destined for failure, whereas even loaded dice have some probability of landing in your favor.
Avicebron 3mo ago
Well said. It's an unspoken "secret" as well that state gambling is a tax on the poor, feeding on desperation. This isn't even funding taxes though, just lining these companies and their insiders pockets.
dheera 3mo ago
> We can (and should) try and regulate away this kind of gambling No, instead we should tackle the actual root of the problem, and fix the economy. If everyone can make a living, afford housing, find jobs, and find something they love to do that pays, and get medical care they need, they won't turn to these things.

xg15 3mo ago

The irony being that gambling is about as far from "guaranteed" or "stable" as you can get. But it does fit the ultralibertarian mindset best, I guess. The right to the pursuit of happiness, not to actually getting it.

criddell 3mo ago
The best way to win at gambling is to be the house.
- mothballed 3mo ago
  Even better, be the guy that taxes the house and winners, sells the licensing to the house (or friends of them that have privileged advantage to sell compliance services), or the guys who determine whether the house gets its zoning or construction exemptions.
  - tavavex 3mo ago
    How is that better? Taxes are a cut of the profits and they mostly are spent back on other goods and services. The owners of the gambling business take the remaining majority of the money and use it to scale themselves up, remove competition or to enrich their ranks. If you want to exist as a parasite, option #2 is the way to go. It is crazy to me that even when faced with the most irredeemable industry, one that is predicated on abusing addiction and human irrationality, one that takes and gives back nothing, the first reaction to this is to brush all of that off and go "but what about the construction permits?" The American adoration for anything 'private' knows no bounds. When our corporate overlords will be scamming, poisoning and forming quasi-dictatorships to rule over us all for profit, they'll still be cheering that at least it's not one of those pesky public governments.
- natebc 3mo ago
  Really it's the only way to win at gambling.

afavour 3mo ago

> A college degree is no longer a guaranteed path to a stable, well paying job. Building wealth through real estate is no longer viable. ...and winning a life's fortune via gambling is even less viable. I agree with what you're saying about the lack of guaranteed paths to prosperity but turning to gambling is not a logical outcome stemming from it. There is no logic in gambling at all. It is purely a vice that preys on people's weaknesses.

PhilipRoman 3mo ago
If you're already losing and losses are capped past some point (worst case just kill yourself), high stakes gambling is quite logical. Of course in reality, gamblers are rarely driven by game-theoretical analysis.
- afavour 3mo ago
  I think we're trying really hard to rationalize a fundamentally irrational behavior here. The vast majority of people betting on Kalshi are not thinking "well, worst case I'll just kill myself".

deaton 3mo ago

Of course there are paths to success, and they are available, but we live in a tiktok world where everyone wants to be a millionaire tomorrow and not in 20 years.

doctorwho42 3mo ago
What's being a millionaire in 20 years going to be worth?

SpicyLemonZest 3mo ago

They're not independent problems. Right now, someone on the East Coast is taking their lunch break; in a world without phone gambling, they would be studying business principles so they can put their name up for a manager role when it opens. But instead they're trying to pick the right sports bet that will make them rich this evening.

nradov 3mo ago

That perception bears almost no relation to reality. The most reliable path to building a modicum of wealth has remained the same for generations: start a small business in some boring field and work your ass off for 80 hrs/wk. Building wealth through real estate is also still totally possible outside of the HCOL metro areas. Try unfashionable areas like Cleveland or Oklahoma City. And let's not have any low-effort comments claiming that there are no good jobs available in those places: the actual economic data on median income to housing price ratios tells another story.

Analemma_ 3mo ago
“Building wealth through real estate” should not be possible, and it’s half the reason we’re in this mess: people treating their homes as a store of wealth and blocking new construction to protect the value of their investment has locked young people out of the housing market. Hence all the gambling. What you should be hoping is that YIMBY policies carry the day in the end and “building wealth through real estate” is eliminated as a thing.
- throwitaway222 3mo ago
  > Building wealth through real estate should not be possible I am sympathetic to this argument, but there are problems. How do you get homes built if you make this change?
  - Analemma_ 3mo ago
    Construction companies can still turn a profit building and selling them. The idea is that houses should be depreciating assets, like cars. If houses are appreciating in value it means you're not building enough of them.
    - s1artibartfast 3mo ago
      or that the cost to build them is going up.
    - 3mo ago

criddell 3mo ago

> A college degree is no longer a guaranteed path to a stable, well paying job. College never guaranteed anything. A college education may still be (statistically) a good investment: https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2025/04/is-college-still-worth-it/ https://libertystreeteconomics.newyorkfed.org/2025/04/is-col... Aside from the financial arguments, the social and personal development opportunities of living and studying with your peers can be pretty great in my experience. I went to a decent school and was surrounded by a lot of very interesting and smart kids and I had some truly great professors. I was really pushed beyond what I thought I could do and my biggest regret is that I didn't take a little extra time for more courses in the humanities (specifically literature and art history).

mullingitover 3mo ago

> There is a market for the gamblification of everything because there is no other widely accessible path for young people to build a future. Gambling is the closest we've come to figuring out how to directly tax hope.

mrguyorama 3mo ago
People who say they use gambling to "dream" or "Hope" are just coping. You don't have to spend a single penny to dream or hope some sort of better outcome for yourself in the next few days that has much better odds than winning the lottery. They just like gambling.
- mullingitover 3mo ago
  > They just like gambling. So why to people suffering from poverty like gambling so much more than everyone else?
  - walls 3mo ago
    Because it's the only possible way out for them.

roadside_picnic 3mo ago

> no other widely accessible path for young people to build a future This is exactly right. Widespread gambling has a fundamental nihilism baked into it. If you believe hard work and frugality are the best path to success, then gambling doesn't feel like a good use of your income and energy. But if you feel like your dreams are falling out of reach despite your hard work, if it starts to look like even big investors are really just playing a game (often with loaded dice) rather than acting on fundamentals, if grift seems like a more reliable path to success then hard work and ingenuity, then all of a sudden gambling seems a lot more sensible. Even if the odds aren't in your favor, you can at least get lucky when you gamble. When the game feels rigged its easy to believe that hardwork is destined for failure, whereas even loaded dice have some probability of landing in your favor.

Avicebron 3mo ago

Well said. It's an unspoken "secret" as well that state gambling is a tax on the poor, feeding on desperation. This isn't even funding taxes though, just lining these companies and their insiders pockets.

dheera 3mo ago

> We can (and should) try and regulate away this kind of gambling No, instead we should tackle the actual root of the problem, and fix the economy. If everyone can make a living, afford housing, find jobs, and find something they love to do that pays, and get medical care they need, they won't turn to these things.