Odds

I was walking through the urban canyon of Vegas a few months ago marveling at the giant casino hotels constructed with money swindled from the mathematically challenged. Count me among them. It was an amazing sight. Millions of square feet have been dedicated to the satisfaction of thrill seekers willing to play games they know they will probably lose, lured by the lights and sounds and grand delusion of happiness and affluence.

As we walked the endless strip the subject of evil came up. Is it 'evil' to take money from those who volunteer it to their own disadvantage? Nope. If I am wearing a t-shirt that reads "I will take your money" and strangers start handing me hundred dollar bills, I have no obligation to refuse. I would not feel the least bit guilty, even. They must not need those hundred dollar bills and I can certainly find a use for them.

Vegas isn't the only place people trade money for an illusion. As we thought about it, it became clear that most of the modern economy, and a large portion of the financial sector, are precisely the same thing: gambling. But, in Vegas, you are not promised material gain, and the obvious signs everywhere around you make it obvious to all but the most deluded that they are hunting you and everything in your wallet. In the financial services industry, they act as though they are providing you a money-making service, although they might not make you any money.

In Vegas, the odds are listed for every craps table, and you know your chances with every roll. In an economy afflicted with the scourge of 'shared responsibility' (i.e. the well-connected win), we DO NOT know the odds. Regardless of our portfolio and the assurances of brokers, we do not know the backroom deals going on in Washington. We do not know who's scratching who's back on Wall Street. Yet, the trumpets of "it's a great time to buy" blare as our life savings swirl down the drain. What's more, the whole industry is financed by people who want to make money for nothing, just by waiting and watching their net worth magically grow. And no one sees the absurdity.

I took my odds in Vegas, where at least I knew I was going to get fleeced. I invested in the good old-fashioned method of rolling up my sleeves and getting down to business; at the craps table.

I won about $4500 in one night. And, I can't imagine an evening of snorting cocaine could have possibly been more fun. I'm sure they'll get it back eventually, but when they do I know they'll use much of it to keep building bigger and better casinos where the odds are posted. I would much rather contribute to this racket than financing the rabble of lawyers, bureaucrats, and CEOs in their endless plight to disguise the ways they plan to steal my money. I'll take my odds in Vegas any day.