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Since there is to be a national discussion on casinos and gambling, I'll start by saying that I welcome the opportunity to discuss something without the deafening shouts of moralizers and the dark stares of doom-sayers.

Gambling is a form of risk-taking. I confess that, in the past, I thoroughly enjoyed taking risks with my own safety. I did that for the adrenaline rush and, sometimes, because I was young and stupid.

But, I did it! I have no moral or other opposition to gambling.

However I see no point whatsoever in working damned hard for my money, then carrying my money to a machine, sitting before that machine, and feeding my hard-earned money into that machine in the hope that the machine will give me back more money than I give to it.

I've spent time in Las Vegas and I've seen it all. Casinos and gambling don't attract me. I pass them by because I reckon it's an incredibly stupid pastime.

But other people like to gamble. Other people seem happy giving their money to machines. So there is profit in gambling, There's also jobs. Somebody has to empty those machines of all that hard-earned pay. Somebody has to count all those given-away dollars. The owners of the money-gobbling machines need space for their machines so they'll happily pay rents. There's real profit to be made and honest wages to be earned.

Bermuda's Hospitality Industry is short on beds to sleep in, short on entertainment and things-to-do, and short on genuine tourists.

Beginning way back in the mid-80s, Bermudians began retiring out of, dying out of, and not entering Bermuda's own hospitality industry. Result? Now and going forward, the industry is completely dependent on low-paid staff who come from less developed countries.

The national composite of the hospitality industry now bases all its costs on wage structures that are set by negotiations with workers whose wage needs are created by conditions in their home countries, and not by conditions that apply in Bermuda.

Result? In Bermuda, Bermuda's hospitality industry pays the lowest wages. Bermudians cannot afford to work for those low wages and maintain a 'Bermuda standard of living'.

Result? Those few Bermudians left in the industry have gravitated into the middle and upper-echelon jobs; or work part-time in hospitality.

This is where gambling/casinos kick in. These new entertainment operations will require fresh new workers. If government is wise, these operations can start out as 'Bermudian-only niches'.

If government is not wise - and there's enough evidence of that - then these fresh operations will start out being staffed by non-Bermudians who will happily accept remuneration packages that are lower than any Bermudian could accept.

If un-wiseness prevails, this fresh gambling operation will quickly end up with - more correctly, start out with - exactly the same low-wage syndrome that has evolved in the hospitality industry.

So if the introduction of gambling/casinos means new high-end high-pay jobs for Bermudians, coupled with a fresh range of 'entertainment' for our genuine visitors, I support it.

I won't be crossing the threshold of any these places, but others will. I'll stick with my Cub Scouts, plays, books, writing, and music.

One question remains. If gambling/casinos needs a batch of fresh new employees, from where will these fresh persons - new employees - come?

In 2000, there were 28,881 Bermudians recorded as filling jobs in Bermuda. In 2004, there were 27,443 Bermudians filling jobs. So in 2004, there were 1,438 fewer Bermudians filling jobs.

In 2007, there were 27,272 Bermudians filling jobs. So in 2007, there was a further drop-off as there were 171 fewer Bermudians filling jobs than in 2004.

This means that since 2000, there are 1,609 fewer Bermudians filling jobs. So Bermudians are actually disappearing from, and dropping out of, Bermuda's own job market.

If, amidst this reality, Bermuda's economy suddenly introduces gambling/casinos, and thus needs to have 100 to 150 or so croupiers and the like, from whence will these new employees come? Will they be Bermudian? (Do go back and re-read and make sure that you understand the two paragraphs just before this one!)

If Bermuda moves on this issue, then Bermuda needs to acknowledge and examine reality. Bermuda must do this before plunging forward and placing bets on an industry that may simply do nothing more than exacerbate what is already a significant but still unseen Bermudian social problem.

Good governments seek to achieve good social objectives that benefit the community. Bermuda ought not gamble and end up achieving a bad social objective by pursuing a wrong economic objective.

Bermuda needs to carefully study the 'odds' and look most carefully at the national employment issue.[[In-content Ad]]

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