David Sirota: Viva Las Vegas?

from OurFuture.org:



Viva Las Vegas?
By David Sirota

December 22nd, 2008 - 3:09pm ET


The week before last, I traveled to Las Vegas for the annual Progressive States Network/EARN conference for state legislators. It was a great event - lots of terrific legislators are planning to do a lot of really progressive things in the upcoming legislative sessions. But as I say in my new newspaper column this week, I left struck by the city of Las Vegas itself - and specifically struck by how it is such a perfect symbol for the predicament our country now faces.

Vegas* is a monument to our nation's environmental and economic hubris - and gluttony. It is the product of our long-held "what me, worry?" attitude about things like energy and water, its lights helping make Nevada the fastest growing carbon emitter in the country, its desert location threatening the existence of Lake Mead.

Likewise, Vegas' central industry - gambling - represents both desperation and the root core of what crushed our economy in the first place. People come to Vegas hoping beyond hope that they can bet their way out of economic pressure, and that gambling impulse is what now guides our financial industry towards catastrophe.

But the thing is, Vegas isn't just limited to Vegas - Vegas as a concept is people everywhere wasting energy in their homes, buying gas guzzlers, using too much water spending too much on credit and betting too big with their 401(k)'s. And so the question, as I say in the column, is whether we as a country can mature beyond that Vegas attitude during this moment of crisis? Are we ready for all the lifestyle and public policy sacrifices that this new era will demand? I think we are, but it's going to take a radical societal and legislative shifts. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.ourfuture.org/blog-entry/2008125222/viva-las-vegas

funny Sirota didn't mention that. The existence of Lake Mead allows for the gluttonous Las Vegas, which threatens the existence of the Colorado River and I don't even know how many species that depend on it.

I will never understand why the first thing we haven't done for climate change is to ask all large businesses to trim their lighting by 25%. And Las Vegas should be running on solar. Hawaii has a requirement that all new homes have solar water heaters, why doesn't the entire southwest have the same thing.

but when I drive home at night (in my Prius) I am blinded by the wattage at each and every gas station I pass, many of them brand new.

that's why he didn't mention lake mead is manmade

either that or he totally did no research at all, which, being there at the same time he was, i also believe

all he did was take a check to repeat cliches -- vegas bad, people gamble to save themselves, blah de blah de blah

if people are gambling to save themselves, then why has the casino industry crashed? people are really hurting, people are losing jobs, tourists are not gambling, they're just strolling around enjoying 2 cent hotel rooms (an actual price offered by a strip hotel) and $1 beers/$5 t-shirts (the beer and t-shirt would be totally free if they'd bother to gamble at a 25 cent machine but people are just not gambling these days)

this guy may have been in vegas but he didn't bother to get out of the convention center

I was commenting on how erroneous his piece is since it doesn't start with the premise that Lake Mead is man-made and supplies a lot of that electricity. We could have a new WPA Project that converts everything to solar. But he's right that we can make some changes in our consumption and Las Vegas is a good example of some things we can do. I live on the coast and it wouldn't bother me a bit to require a wind generator for the casinos on our coast. That's how change happens.

that's what i'm saying, he just made up stuff out of thin air

i love this quote, it's so fuckwitted --

people come to Vegas hoping beyond hope that they can bet their way out of economic pressure,

no you fuckwit people come to vegas to watch everybody else gamble, most people bring a $20 bill and a pair of underpants, and if vegas gets lucky, they'll change both of them

i was in town the same week he was and you know where i saw the teeming masses of impassible crowds? at casino royale where you could buy all kinds of $5 bags and t-shirts cheaper than you could get them back home!

i'm eternally amazed at the HUGE hordes of looky-loos who come to vegas to watch somebody else gamble, to me that's just pathetic but the reality is the overwhelming majority of folks come to vegas because it's fucking cheap and the perception is that somebody else somewhere (the gambling whale) pays for it

if you think there are gamblers in vegas sometime go to the BIGGEST casino in vegas (the bellagio) and honestly observe how many people are REALLY gambling any kind of serious money -- it's shocking to me how few it is -- example -- there are days when there is no 100/200 limit holdem game going at all, and most of them time NOBODY is in bobby's room, bobby's room was actually open during the week fuckwitted writer was there but only because of a HUGE world poker tour tournament

most people come to vegas apparently to drink, eat, and goggle at other people having a life -- so they spent little, less than they would spend if they stayed home for their vacation

plus lake mead/hoover dam was a public works project, tour it sometime and hear the story of how the terrazo floor was made to give work to artists during the great depression and so forth, then go and crap on vegas, hey, either we are serious about the wpa and about creating infrastructure/jobs...or we aren't

this guy is not serious, c'mom, mr. sirota, you can do better than this

this article is just parroting stuff that folks have said for years w.out any knowledge of gambling or the gambling economy (which has collapsed because folks AREN'T trying to gamble to save themselves) and has no understanding of what is actually happening at all

The glitz, the unusual, relatively good food and entertainment. Stuff you can't get at home. For some people that's gambling, for others it's titty bars and maybe even hookers. Hubby likes boxing. There is a good mall there that has a Saks and a few other high-end stores. That's why people go mostly. But there is always the fantasy that you might be the one to put in a dollar and win a million.

so we are in agreement, most people bring a twenty dollar bill and a change of undershorts, and if vegas gets lucky, they change both of them

the writer of this article didn't observe vegas, he wrote a cliche that he could have just as well written from new york or from buenos ares or from paris, he didn't notice what you and i and everyone else who has actually been there HAS noticed -- that folks ain't gambling, that harrah's entertainment (for example) can't pay back a 26 billion dollar debt because folks ain't gambling\

he just writes a lot of horseshit about how people come there to win back whatever, and maybe that was actually true in 1937, but it ain't yesterday any more