Apparently Manchester’s “won” the bid to build a Supercasino. Without first going into the social ills this is promoting, I’m wondering about the word “bid“.
Why should the cities be bidding? Does this mean that the councils of several cities were pitted against each other to win over the favour of a conglomerate/consortium?
If so, what were the councils offering the profit-making organisation? “Come build here, we’ve got a large target population of losers that you can make a quick buck off”? If I was a profit-making organisation I’d surely be demanding a guarantee of certain minimum numbers coming through my doors!
The BBC website says:- Manchester had been chosen because of its “very thorough consultation” with the local community and “the way it dealt with questions of problem gambling”.
But surely the way not to deal with problem gambling is introducing a Jerusalem for gamblers! I have seen government “efforts” in this area. Leaflets in betting shops with a telephone number. “Call us if you think you have a problem!” Practically every gambler thinks he/she is beating the odds, can quit when he/she wants and doesn’t have a problem.
Should I consider the revenue this is bringing in, perhaps? But what if I was a rich person and offered to pay the council say £10,000 for every person I shot because I like a bit of game hunting? How much revenue will justify this? You can fiddle with the details; more money per person, or perhaps I only shoot people who are using up valuable NHS resources. Will the council decide that for certain values in the equation, I should be allowed to do so?
Note to Rach:- Words like “gambling” and “prostitution” in a comment put it in the moderation queue.