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<blockquote data-quote="Days of Broken Arrows" data-source="post: 1182930" data-attributes="member: 4258">OK, I think I just realize why this subject is bothering me so much. This time it's personal.Back in the 1940s and 1950s, the government did everything it could to stamp out gambling, specifically the proto-lottery system called &quot;numbers running.&quot; They sold it as a moral panic. They also had no qualms about inventing charges to put a lot of my people -- Italian-Americans -- in prison for being involved with numbers running.So, they came up with nebulous concepts like &quot;racketeering&quot; when they couldn't find real charges. The public cheered as a lot of men went to prison. This caused a lot of prejudice towards Italians for being &quot;immoral&quot; and involved with &quot;crime.&quot; (OK, granted, Italian-Americans WERE involved with crime in the larger sense, but I'm specifically talking about numbers running here.)Then what happened? By the 1970s, the individual states took over numbers running and gave it glossy-sounding names like &quot;The Lotto&quot; and &quot;The Lottery.&quot; Suddenly, the exact actions the government had deemed immoral and illegal were now legal -- because the government was able to profit. Nowadays they, practically shove the Lottery down our throats. My guess is something of the sort is happening with Backpage.com and company. As The Father pointed out, the Feds haven't produced any Sandusky-like scandals involving &quot;child trafficking.&quot; The government must see dollar signs and want a cut, or the departments are manufacturing crises to keep their budgets big.And just in case anyone is wondering, I personally HATE gambling and have never bought a Lotto ticket in my life. I'm just pointing out how the government shapes people's morality -- and how the sheeple don't stop to think how something can be &quot;immoral and illegal (OMG!)&quot; in one year, but perfectly fine a few years later. Or vice-versa.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Days of Broken Arrows, post: 1182930, member: 4258"] OK, I think I just realize why this subject is bothering me so much. This time it's personal. Back in the 1940s and 1950s, the government did everything it could to stamp out gambling, specifically the proto-lottery system called "numbers running." They sold it as a moral panic. They also had no qualms about inventing charges to put a lot of my people -- Italian-Americans -- in prison for being involved with numbers running. So, they came up with nebulous concepts like "racketeering" when they couldn't find real charges. The public cheered as a lot of men went to prison. This caused a lot of prejudice towards Italians for being "immoral" and involved with "crime." (OK, granted, Italian-Americans WERE involved with crime in the larger sense, but I'm specifically talking about numbers running here.) Then what happened? By the 1970s, the individual states took over numbers running and gave it glossy-sounding names like "The Lotto" and "The Lottery." [i]Suddenly, the exact actions the government had deemed immoral and illegal were now legal -- because the government was able to profit.[/i] Nowadays they, practically shove the Lottery down our throats. My guess is something of the sort is happening with Backpage.com and company. As The Father pointed out, the Feds haven't produced any Sandusky-like scandals involving "child trafficking." The government must see dollar signs and want a cut, or the departments are manufacturing crises to keep their budgets big. And just in case anyone is wondering, I personally HATE gambling and have never bought a Lotto ticket in my life. I'm just pointing out how the government shapes people's morality -- and how the sheeple don't stop to think how something can be "immoral and illegal (OMG!)" in one year, but perfectly fine a few years later. Or vice-versa. [/QUOTE]

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