Being told "professional poker doesn't contribute to society."

[Piece of Cake]

"contributing to society" again is a concept created by corporations and disseminated through moral outlets like church and your cable news channel to keep you contributing in your 5x5 cubicle.

[Ed_Zackary]

wow! eleventy billion responses and still no consensus answer. yup, most poker players with discerning, analytical minds have difficulty answering/justifying this one. Me too.

[tarheeljks]

seeing as how it is taxed, it contributes.

[BUSTO]

[ QUOTE ]
seeing as how it is taxed, it contributes.

[/ QUOTE ]

so if i go around stealing money from people and then pay taxes on that income, am i contributing too?

[tarheeljks]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
seeing as how it is taxed, it contributes.

[/ QUOTE ]

so if i go around stealing money from people and then pay taxes on that income, am i contributing too?

[/ QUOTE ]

do you honestly think that these two scenarios are analagous?

[BUSTO]

as an individual, it's not my responsibility to contribute to society. it's my responsibility to provide for myself and my family in the best possible way i can. if poker is the best way to do that, i will play poker.

if others choose to provide for me by playing poker against me, that's their choice, not mine. they create the inefficiency by giving me that opportunity. i don't have to be a productive member of society because they choose to support me.

now, many of those people are stupid, and it might be argued that they shouldn't have the right to make that choice. it's the responsibility of government to promote an efficient economy - not the responsibility of individuals. given that, it's not hard to come up with a good argument for outlawing gambling, but i guess thats another issue.

[Tien]

If you outlaw gambling you might as well outlaw alcohol use as well as cigarettes.

Putting more restrictions on people in a supposedly free country does more harm than good.

There is no argument for outlawing gambling / alcohol / cigarettes because it would result in social chaos and riots.

[BUSTO]

[ QUOTE ]

There is no argument for outlawing gambling / alcohol / cigarettes because it would result in social chaos and riots.

[/ QUOTE ]

i guess you haven't heard, but gambling is illegal in most states, and there ia no social chaos or rioting related to this

[Jack Ruby]

Gambling is legal in almost every state.

Lotteries, horse racing, church bingo.
It's illegal if those in power don't get the money.

[good2cu]

[ QUOTE ]
theres no argument agaisnt it because theyre right.

so? ty for your money dumbasses now i go snort coke from a bunch of silicontits, have fun at your job sucker.

[/ QUOTE ]

I've never laughed so hard reading 2p2.