Noir classic Force of Evil explains how the gambling industry works

Don't ever say ol' Redactor is against free speech. Force of Evil is one of my favorite movies even if it was made by commies. Director Abraham Polonsky was openly a card-carrying commie. John Garfield was probably a cryptocommie. In '48 that didn't mean you posted furry stuff and your pronouns on Twitter, it meant you were part of a global organization working to make Stalin ruler of the world. But I still don't want people like that blacklisted if they're making art that's supporting American values.

The line about "you're in it for $35 a week" really hit me hard. In my younger days I worked for a company that did business with another company that was basically a scam. I didn't choose for our company to work with them, but it wasn't up to me. I ended up working very closely with these people. I didn't have a lot of moral qualms about it at first. My coworkers, people I really respected, had been doing this for several years and they didn't seem to have a problem with it. Then at the end of the project they gave me a Hallmark greeting card thanking me for my hard work. How sweet. Inside it they left a "tip". I wasn't a f-ing waitress or something, this wasn't an industry where you get tips. (And way before this new thing of everyone even at fricking Subway asking for tips.) So I understood very well what they meant. They were telling me that if I continue to just go with the flow I'll keep getting a little more cash. I thought of that line in the movie and how people degrade themselves for small amounts of money and justify it because they're not directly committing the crime themself. And of course I kept the money anyway.

!pinoypride I imagine this is like when someone running for local office hands out campaign fliers and they've got a $5 bill stapled to the back. Also note that we had jueteng in America back then, we just called it "policy", "numbers", etc. It's totally different now tho. Each state has a lottery which is legal and sold openly in every store. They constantly show ads highlighting how the state's cut of the gambling money is used for rural infrastructure, green energy, kids with cancer, etc. to appeal to every segment of society. I sure am glad that we're so civilized now and gambling is actually a good thing now.

The one person here who actually was on the same page with me about the whole gambling issue was my neighbor Penny. I hope she's still around on an alt.