Greek people spent about 37 billion euros on gambling in 2023. This comes as an increase on the 2022 data, where we were at 29 billion. Such a development can only be considered good for the owners of betting firms and casinos. For the rest of us, it indicates that something is wrong. Gambling thrives in poorer countries but Greece didn't get that much poorer in a year. So it's something else, not the cost of living.
A first approximation of the truth is hidden in the hyperpromotion of gambling. It is impossible for any 18-25 year old male not to come upon ads from gambling companies at least once a day. Betting has permeated the entire spectrum of our culture: from sports all the way to trap music, from which the two worst examples come. In particular, they come from its two biggest names: Snik and Light. The first one, streams slots all day, with the result that every interaction between artist and fan is intertwined with gambling. Light made an even more outrageous move: he wrote a sponsored song in conjunction with a betting firmwith its name in the title. Thus today's, prominent people have become gambling ambassadors, and gambling culture is spreading.
But again something is missing. Why is the problem of such dimensions? The answer is right in front of our eyes: people love ways to get rich quick. Get rich quick schemes have always been around us. In the past it was the stock market that was a bubble, later the pyramid schemes that we see to this day. Now it's the gurus of the stock market, forex trading and cryptocurrencies trading, who are some of the charlatans who sell what the masses want: easy riches. It was only a matter of time, then, that gambling would become such a big industry.
Let's not kid ourselves though. Gambling is a destructive addiction. That is why the time has come for the state to intervene against betting companies. First and foremost, their advertising presence must be stopped. The more the promotion of gambling enters the mainstream, the easier it is to forget the danger involved. Also, the more likely it is that minors will come into contact with gambling. More on the subject of minors, there is a need to bring heavy penalties for underage gambling to both gaming companies and parents. The phenomenon must be addressed and eliminated, especially at younger ages.
So, we don't just live in a society that has become addicted to gambling but a society that has always been addicted to getting rich quick. That is why treatment of the phenomenon must commence immediately. The response to a higher cost of living cannot be increasing gambling expenditure. A society addicted to gambling is addicted to bad financial decisions and is therefore a society that is doomed.
Seek help if you feel that you are addicted to gambling, both for yourself and those around you.
