I Bet My Life!

by guest author Savallas

[Scroll down the page for the English version and author bio]

Υπάρχουν πολλοί τρόποι με τους οποίους ένα άτομο μπορεί να χάσει λεφτά, αλλά υπάρχει ένας μόνο τρόπος να μην το ξανακάνει. 

Εδώ και χρόνια στον τόπο μας, στην Κύπρο, λέμε, ξαναλέμε, αποφασίζουμε μετανιώνουμε το ξανασκεφτόμαστε αλλά τίποτα...
Να κάνουμε καζίνα τελικά ή όχι; 

Ένας τζογαδόρος σίγουρα δεν θα καταστραφεί από ένα καζίνο αφού είναι στο αίμα του να ποντάρει, να προκαλεί τον άλλο και γενικά του αρέσει να περπατά πάνω σε αυτή την πολύ λεπτή κλωστή που χωρίζει την νίκη απο την ήττα, την επιτυχία από την αποτυχία. Να κάνει σκέψεις ότι θα διπλασιάσει σε λίγο τα λεφτά του ή θα έρθει η απόλυτη καταστροφή του μέσα σε λίγα μόλις δευτερόλεπτα. Βλέπεις, ο τζόγος δεν είναι κάτι που μπορείς να το σταματήσεις απο την μία μέρα στην άλλη. Είναι αρρώστια.

Ένας τζογαδόρος θα σε πάει στοίχημα με λεφτά για το αν καταφέρεις να τρέξεις τα 10 μέτρα σε 2 δευτερόλεπτα, θα σε πάει στοίχημα στο τάβλι, θα σε πάει στοίχημα στα ζάρια, στο φαγητό, στο ποτό, στη διασκέδαση. Δεν έχει σημασία το ποσό, αλλά η όλη διαδικασία. Με λίγα λόγια, ο τζόγος είναι μέρος της ζωής μας, της καθημερινότητάς μας, είτε μας αρέσει είτε όχι. Ο τζογαδόρος σίγουρα δεν θα περιμένει να του κτίσεις καζίνο για να ξοδέψει τα λεφτά του, δεν σε έχει ανάγκη. 

Στην Κύπρο όμως, ο πρόεδρός μας, δεν θέλει να το κάνει γιατί λέει οτι θα καταστραφούν οικογένειες, θα κλείσουν σπίτια και ο τόπος μας θα καταντήσει Λας Βέγκας λόγω του υπόκοσμου. Λαμβάνοντας υπόψην μας την ανεργία, την απελπισία και τη γενικότερη κατάσταση του τουρισμού μας που βρίσκεται στον αναπνευστήρα, δεν ακούγεται και τόσο άσχημο. Επίσης, να υποθέσουμε ότι ο υπόκοσμος τώρα, δεν έχει δράση στην Κύπρο, αφού είναι όλοι νοματαγείς πολίτες και γενικά ζούμε μέσα σε μία κοινωνία όπου βασιλεύει το δίκαιο και ο νόμος. 

Εν τω μεταξύ στα καζίνα πέραν του νοητικού πλέον συρματοπλέγματος, παίκτηκαν ήδη ολόκληρες περιουσίες, χάθηκαν τόσα εκατομμύρια. Είδατε εσείς πουθενά την καταστροφή; Φυσικά και όχι, αφού είναι καθαρά επιλογή του καθενός το τι θα κάνει με τα λεφτά του και πώς θα επιλέξει ο ίδιος να τα ξοδέψει. O μοναδικός χαμένος από την όλη υπόθεση λοιπόν δεν είναι ο τζογαδόρος, αλλά το κράτος. 

Πέραν των κοινωνικών επιπτώσεων, που έτσι κι αλλιώς στην παρούσα κατάσταση τα κοινωνικά θέματα δεν φένεται να ενδιαφέρουν τους αρμόδιους, το κράτος ενώ θα μπορούσε να βγάζει πάρα πολλά εκατομμύρια (300.000.000 και μόνο από τις άδειες κάθε χρόνο) δεν κάνει τίποτα γι’ αυτό. Εξού και η οδήγηση μας στον μηχανισμό υποστήριξης ή σε δάνεια από άλλα κράτη. 

Η δημιουργία καζίνου, θα έβλαπτε σοβαρά και τον υπόκοσμο, θα ήταν ένα κτύπημα κάτω από την μέση αφού έτσι, ο κυρίαρχος στην πράσινη τσόχα θα είναι το κράτος και με μία μπάγκα αρκετά μεγάλη ώστε να κτυπά τα ρέστα του όποτε θέλει και με το αζημίωτο. Δεν θα είχαμε γκαστερικές επιθέσεις όπως την ψεσινή και σίγουρα δεν θα είχαμε και τόσα θύματα.

Ο Κύπριος, συγκαταλέγεται ανάμεσα στους τρεις μεγαλύτερους τζογαδόρους στον κόσμο. Τα σκύπτρα τα κρατάνε οι Κινέζοι. 

Ο τζόγος αυτή την στιγμή βασιλεύει στον αθλητισμό αλλά δεν είδαμε καμία αντίδραση, έχουν φτάσει στο σημείο να θεωρούν άθλημα τον... ιππόδρομο και τα εκατομμύρια που παίζουν κάθε φορά, την ώρα που όλοι ξέρουν ότι είναι όλα στημένα.

Τζογαδόροι είμαστε όλοι στο κάτω κάτω, απλά μερικοί ξέρουν πότε πρέπει να σταματήσουν (ο σωστός τζογαδόρος) και άλλοι όχι (ο πάντα χαμένος τζογαδόρος) και αυτό είναι που κάνει τον τζόγο να παίζει τόσο σημαντικό ρόλο στην ζωής μας.

Όπως είπαμε και στην αρχή, τρόποι υπάρχουν πολλοί για να χάσει κάποιος λεφτά, υπάρχει όμως μόνο ενας για να σταματήσει να το κάνει και αυτός είναι όταν θα χάσει την ζωή του.

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There are many ways with which a person can lose money, but there is just one way for them not to do it again.

For years now, here in our country, Cyprus, we argue, we take decisions, we regret, and change our minds but nothing happens...

Should we finally give licenses for casinos? Or not?

Surely gamblers won’t be ruined by one casino since gambling is in their blood, challenging others and generally walking on that thin line between winning and losing, between success and failure. Thinking whether they will soon double their money or be completely wiped out in a matter of seconds. You see, gambling is not something you can stop from one day to the next. It’s a disease.

Gamblers will bet you on whether you are able to run 10m in 2 seconds, they will bet you on a game of backgammon or dice, they will bet you on food, drinking, or simply on having fun. And it’s not about the amount, it’s the whole process. In other words, gambling is part of our everyday lives whether we like it or not. A gambler is not waiting for a casino to waste their money, they’ve got their ways.

In Cyprus though, our president refuses to give the licenses for casinos because, as he claims, families will be wrecked, households will be ruined, and our country will become something like Las Vegas because of the underworld. Considering the unemployment, the desperation, and the general condition of our tourism which is suffering, it doesn’t sound that bad. And let’s also assume for a moment that the underworld is not active presently, and that all citizens in Cyprus are law abiding and we generally live in a society where law and fairness reign!

In the meantime, in the casinos beyond the now mental barricade that divides our country, whole properties have been placed as a bet and millions were lost. Have you seen any destruction? Of course not, since spending their money is each person’s choice. The only loser in all this is not the gambler but the government.

Despite the social consequences, which are not a high priority for the relevant competent authorities anyway, the government could make many millions out of it (300million just from the licenses each year only), but chooses not to. Hence, Cyprus is very close to seeking financial support and loans from other countries.

The establishment of casinos would hit the underworld as well. It would be an “under the belt” move since it would mean that the government is now dominant in the gambling game with a respectful money pot. We wouldn’t have gangster-like attacks like the recent one and we surely wouldn’t have so many victims.

Cypriots are amongst the three biggest gamblers in the world with the Chinese leading the way at the moment.

Gambling at the moment is dominant in sports. But we have yet to experience an objection to that. It reached the point where horse racing, and the millions they bet, is considered a sport while consciously knowing everything is a set up.

At the end of the day, we are all gamblers. It’s just that some know when they need to stop (the right gambler) and others don’t (the losing gambler) and this is what makes gambling so important in our lives.

As I said at the beginning, there are many ways with which a person can lose money but there is just one way for them to stop... losing their life.

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Savallas is a 30 something anti-hero who enjoys complaining about the world we live in. He claims AC/DC and Slayer are the best and apparently they are. At the moment he spends his time fighting unfairness in a small Cypriot town, kind of like a Cypriot Batman. You cannot follow his views anywhere because you have to pay for them.

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Image credits:

http://casinopokerbetting.org

http://themindspost.com/

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Black N' White World

WARNING: This post is not intended for people who get easily offended.

As you may have noticed by now, I get annoyed with many things in life but the one thing that works every time is human stupidity. Stupidity does not capture the full essence of what I mean here but feel free to substitute with your own preferences. Under stupidity I usually include the following amongst other:

•          Lack of self-awareness
•          Selective narrow-mindedness
•          Lack of intellectual properties/processes
•          Herd-like approaches to opinion
•          Lack of knowledge
•          Ignorance by choice
•          Self-righteousness
•          Hypocrisy

One such manifestation of human stupidity (who I have the good luck of not knowing personally) managed to make my blood boil and the veins in my forehead stick out. This being, which from now on I’ll refer to as the thing posted a picture capturing the various stages of (surgical) abortion. Then underneath that picture there comes the flock.

Opinions were unified under a general hateful theme:

“shame to those who do it”, “horrendous”, “disgusting”, “how can people do it”, “murderers”, “crime”, “I would never do such a thing”, “wrong”, “innocent soul”, “whores those who do it” and my personal favourites “religion says it’s wrong” & “babies are godsend gifts”!

If you are amongst people who have such opinions, then you might want to look away and not read any further. The thing that posted that picture claims to be an educated person and from a discipline where such black and white opinions are not encouraged or promoted. But anyway I will not focus on the stupidity of just one person, it would be rather unfair!

First of all, there are two types of people who see the world in black and white:

1. Genuinely narrow-minded: The type of person, who refuses any alternatives offered to them, despite the provision of good arguments.
   
           Example: “There is a god, and he is watching us. Darwin was just another nutter who sailed around the world and collected birds for a hobby."
2. Ignorant: This is the type of person, who refuses to use the few brain cells that kind Nature offered to them and prefers to go along with the flow or the masses.
   Example: “Religion and society teaches us that women are inferior to men; shame on those who go out there and follow their dreams.”

To be frank, I don’t know which is worse. But, I am shocked that 99% of the comments published under the picture that the thing posted came from women and from people that grew up in an era where issues of morality and ethics are relative. I am not getting into the whole abortion debate as we all know the arguments for and against, and really, that’s not the issue here. I will focus more on the stupidity involved in “thinking” of such sensitive subjects.

As I read through the comments I realised that I was more pissed off with not what they were writing per se, but the way all of them agreed with one another like they were members of some sort of secret society of grand virtue, intelligence, morality, and court-like standards. I wouldn’t be surprised if these people turned out to be the same ones that argue for the idea of an Aryan race, exhibit Hitler-like characteristics, believe that the Earth is only 2,000 years old, or believe that there is a white-bearded white man sitting on a cloud holding a lighting and waiting to strike someone that did something “wrong”.

On the other hand, these same (hypocritical) people may engage in morally questionable actions during their everyday lives. But who cares about all these when you have in front of you a “baby murderer” right? That is the ultimate sin, they say, because you choose to “kill”, or let a human being die. Well, I’ve got news for you: people die every day, in Africa 60 babies per day do so.

People, the world is not black and white. If it is, then you are probably a dog (that’s a myth by the way). As I argued before, we are all hypocritical in nature. But at least some of us have the ability to keep our mouths shut when appropriate, or at least try and express our opinion in a civilised, educated way.

Oh, and just to clarify, babies are not godsend; they come from a blind date between an eager sperm and a very popular egg.

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