I didn’t vote for this last round of casino expansions. When I found out the tribes were dumping huge bucks into efforts to influence what takes place in Sacramento, it really soured me on the whole casino deal.
Initially I had wanted a better life for the Indians on the reservations. I just hadn’t planned on them trying to control Sacramento with those funds.
Unfortunately you are correct that the primary beneficiaries of Tribal Gaming are politicians who receive tremendous amounts of cash to sell little communities like mine down the river.
Although there are an estimated 12,000-15,000 Chumash descendants, only 150 receive money from the Chumash Casino. The people who get the checks are the ones who were getting free cheese on the reservation in the 1980s. Most Chumash descendants, like Irish immigrants, assimilated into the mainstream and prospered in very occupations. These people, the hard working Chumash descendants, get nothing.
The people who lived on the reservation in Santa Barbara County were primarily the dead-beats and losers. Now they are still dead-beats and losers but they each get about $500,000 a year for being 25% 'Chumash' and $1,000,000 if they are 50% 'Chumash'. Of course there is no DNA test involved...only the vote of the 'Tribal Council' to determine who is Chumash. Interestingly, the Tribal Council is made up of people primarily from a single family of former free cheese recipients.
The only people benefiting from the Chumash Casino are the 150 check recipients, politicians and coke dealers. The Chumash Casino is a blight on the beautiful Santa Ynez Valley.
Gambling is destructive and is nothing more than a tax and most affects those who can least afford it. There is a reason why it used to be outlawed in the U.S., and not because of outdated Puritan morals, but because of the common knowledge that gambling appeals to our destructive instincts. It’s the arrogant belief that we in 2008 are smarter than our forefathers, that we pass new well intentioned laws to sponsor ideas like gambling. When it’s “for the (children, Indians, etc.)”, then we reject the wisdom of our forebears.
With each succeeding generation, it seems, we try to continue to tear the fabric of society that has made this country great.