NO SHAME

Being brazen is in, displaying shame is the new taboo. To be brazen is to be impudent. Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines impudent as, "Wanting prudence or discretion; indiscrete; injudicious; not attentive to the consequences of words or actions; rash; heedless. The imprudent man often laments his mistakes, and then repeats them." The brazen man is one who acts without any forethought. When the consequences of his actions turn against him, then he wants to blame his actions on someone else. The brazen will never take responsibility for their actions.

Webster renders shame as, "A painful sensation excited by a consciousness of guilt, or of having done something which injures reputation; or by the exposure of that which nature or modesty prompts us to conceal. Shame is particularly exited by the disclosure of actions which, in the view of men, are mean and degrading. Hence it is often or always manifested by a downcast look or by blushes, called confusion of faces." Shame should cause a man to discontinue a degrading situation.

The audacity of some is beyond words. A recent example has occurred in Ontario where thousands of compulsive gamblers have filed a $3.5 billion class action lawsuit. This lawsuit is being filed against provincially (government) run casinos. The crux of the issue is that these compulsive gamblers had signed up for a program that denied them entry into the casinos and that they had been allowed in.

These compulsive gamblers will not control their gambling. By signing up for this self imposed ban, they were hoping to shift responsibility for their actions from themselves to the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation. Instead of staying out of the casinos, they subjected themselves to arrest for trespassing. They now want to be able to profit for breaking the law. This is as brazen as it gets.

These gamblers have no conscience. Instead of being shamed by their degrading actions, they continue to repeat them. They refuse to govern themselves. If you do not govern yourself, someone else must do it for you. They want to blame the government for their failure to control themselves. They cannot and will not accept responsibility. This lawsuit is wholly illogical. It is frivolous to the core.

What needs to happen here is that these gamblers need to be arrested for trespassing and appropriate penalties imposed and the lawsuit thrown out. Then what needs to happen is the government of Ontario needs to get out of the gambling business. All casinos need to be shut down. The government of Ontario is getting what they deserve. Gambling will forever attract those who do things to excess. Government sponsored gambling will foster gambling addiction. Gamble responsibly is a worthless slogan.