Please join us in Auerbach 320 or online this Wednesday, Feb. 21, from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m., for our next meeting of the Philosophy Club as we discuss the new corporate craze of online sports betting being foisted on our already over-addicted, over-afflicted youth culture and the looming dangers and harm it may bring.
To join the meeting online, click here. If you have trouble joining, call Brian Skelly at 413.273.2273.
If you watched the Super Bowl, it was clear that that something new was going on, the biggest sports stars dancing around like clowns in costumes to convince (can we safely assume: young, mostly male?) people to “Get in the game!” and bet on sports using the new app that now puts unabated sports betting at our fingertips. These ads catch the ear because they end with the same ironic list of side-effect symptoms as a pharmaceutical ad, making it clear that what is being peddled is an addictive “substance." The social effects are similar to those of heroin, or cocaine.
Famously, those ads cost a lot, and the stars get paid a lot. Who is paying for those stars and funding those ads ultimately are the people downloading the app and “getting in the game."
The stats are bad. The anecdotal news is much worse—students gambling away their student loans can now be added to the list of assets tragically lost to this disease.
The cork has been popped, and the genie is emerging before us The story to unfold is a familiar one: a few families, already rich and powerful, will become more so, at the expense of many.
An ongoing weekly tradition at the University since 2001, the University of Hartford Philosophy Club is a place where students, professors, and people from the community at large meet as peers. Sometimes presentations are given, followed by discussion. Other times, topics are hashed out by the whole group.
Presenters may be students, professors, or people from the community. Anyone can offer to present a topic. The mode of presentation may be as formal or informal as the presenter chooses.
Food and drink are served. Come and go as you wish. Bring friends. Suggest topics and activities. Take over the club! It belongs to you!