Comment on Kindt's Paper.

Researcher John Kindt suggests that the progressive ideal has been a myth in the area of legalized gambling. Kindt has taken the bold step of predicting that in the future the gambling industry will be held financially liable by the states for the social and economic impact of gambling. Kindt correctly observes that the growth of gambling in the U.S. over the last 25 years has been explosive, and that state governments have been lax and uninformed in their decisions to legalize various forms of gambling. The parallels between the Tobacco Industry model and the recent South Carolina experience with legalized gambling are striking. In South Carolina, the opposing pro- and anti-gambling political forces that had been fighting over the legality of video gambling in South Carolina since 1986 reached a compromise when, on July 1, 1993 the legislature enacted the Video Game Machines Act. The South Carolina experience also illustrates that sometimes even clearly defined laws and rules make no difference in the conduct of gambling activity, and lends support to Kindt's criticism of the role of the government in this troubled area.