The thousands of families torn apart by financial ruin caused by addictive gambling is WELL DOCUMENTED, Sugar. To sit at your computer and defend gambling as something that doesn't cause harm is pretty laughable. You sit at a table, drink alcohol, and risk large sums of money for your own adrenalin rush. Nothing moral about that. Nothing virtuous about that, when you could be putting that money to good use, IF YOU WERE A MORAL PERSON. Drinking a beer doesn't make you immoral, but alcohol causes hundreds of thousands of deaths a year. Throwing a quarter into a slot doesn't make you a bad person, but losing your life savings and flushing your kids' college fund on a losing hand of blackjack is definite harm.
And you talk about the benefits of tipping? Sheesh.
I'm a libertarian, sugar. Legalize it everywhere, that's fine with me. Just don't try and tell me it's helping society, and DON'T try and con me into thinking that it doesn't ruin plenty of lives.
And Bennett doesn't think about the 'individual'. He's concerned with 'societal' implications or virtuous or non-virtuous behavior. That's his bread and butter. Try your argument on Bennett inre: drugs. "Well, Bill, I can handle my cocaine. I've got lots of money, I'm single, and I just sit in my room and snort coke. I'm not hurting anyone." Bennett's first response would be about the 'societal' harm of drug use, not necessarily the individual implications. Well, use that argument for gambling, and you'll understand why casino gambling is illegal in the majority of states in the US.