The LitNet Academy of Omniscience

[SleepyWitch]

hey folks, remember my bright idea to start a thread where everyone shares their specialist knowledge? well, here it is: The LitNet Academy of Omniscience :)

I'll start off by posting my study notes from a geography article about gambling in the U.S.A.
I'll post some more geography stuff as I go along.
Please keep in mind that geography is bound to deal with environmental degradation, social inequalities, global warming etc. If you think these issues are overrated, feel free to write a letter of complaint to the authors of the articles I'll quote. Please don't bicker about them in this thread. THANKS :thumbs_up




USA: From Puritans to Gamblers - Part One
from: Barbara HAHN: "Die USA: Vom Land der Puritaner zum Spielerparadies", in: Geographische Rundschau, vol. 57/1 (2005), p. 22-29

Intro: Gambling in the USA today
until 1988, gambling was only legal in two US states; today it is only illegal in Utah and Hawaii. within a few years it has evolved into a business that is worth billions

gambling comprises: lotteries, bingo, horse - and dog races, as well as casinos. These have changed the cultural landscape of the USA and are the most conspicuous giveaway of American’s changing attitudes towards gamblling.

- casinos used to be seen as something negative, associated with crime
- politicians promoted casinos because of the tax revenue they generate
- today: wholesome family entertainment, but still controversial

History of Gambling in the U.S.
In the course of US history, attitudes towards gambling have changed, with periods when it was illegal and frowned upon alternation with more liberal eras.
4 phases can be identified

1600 - ca. 1850
New England colonies+ Pennsylvania: Puritan ideology, strict work ethos, even owning dice or playing cards for private use was prohibited
other colonies: pastime for gentlemen
gambling in public was legalized in the lower Mississippi valley in ca 1800
Mississippi and its tributaries: busy trading routes, many merchants with a lot of cash
- - > the first casinos of the U.S. were built on the banks of the Mississippi
New Orleans became a gambling stronghold, gambling was often linked to fraud/cheating and crime, so the population increasingly opposed it in the 1830s; in 1835 saw the first lynching of a professional gambler by the population
- - > gamblers retreated to ships on the Mississippi to be safe
1840-1860: the heyday of Riverboat Gambling; Civil War (1861-65) put an end to navigation on the Mississippi - -> demise of Riverboat Gambling
at the same time: passenger transport began to shift to the railways
Gambling was made illegal by more and more eastern states

ca. 1850 - ca. 1910
westward expansion of the frontier, California Gold Rush (1848-9) - -> gambling moved westward
1849- 1855 heyday of Gambling in California (digger towns + bigger cities)
San Francisco became the capital of gambling
crime, corruption - -> laws against the organizers of gambling, later (1891): total ban of gambling in California
but gambling continued to thrive underground, organized by Chinese; gambling relocated to Nevada, where it was illegalized in 1910

1930s to mid-1970s
attitudes towards gambling changed after the crash of the stock exchange in 1929;
legalised gambling: way of increasing revenue (e.g. to support churches and charities)
at the same time: Chicago + New York tightened up on gambling due to mafia involvement in illegal gambling; mobsters fled to the West, e.g. Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel who went on to promote illegal gambling in California and Nevada
1933: gambling legalized in Nevada again, Boulder Dam/Hoover Dam under construction, government hoped to attract tourists through gambling

1946: the first themed hotel (Flamingo Hotel) opens at the Las Vegas Strip

gambling still illegal in other states - -> Las Vegas cemented its leading role without competition over several decades

1976 - today
1976: New Jersey followed Nevada’s lead and permitted the building of casinos, this was limited to Atlantic City, however.
Atlantic city had been a popular bathing destination which lost tourists when Florida became more popular. Casinos were meant to make the town more attractive and increase tax revenue.
1980s, Reagan: public spending was cut down; state coffers empty due to low tax revenue - -> politicians favoured the legalization of gambling (especially poor states),
more and more Native American tribes advocated the building of casinos in reservations

today[2005]: 506 casinos in the U.S.A., highest concentration: California and Nevada


http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o120/SleepyWitch/casinosUSA.jpg
one little cube= one casino
black= run by Native Americans
grey= run by others
white= states with no casinos
source: Barbara HAHN: "Die USA: Vom Land der Puritaner zum Spielerparadies", in: Geographische Rundschau, vol. 57/1 (2005), p. 24



Sleepy's got a meeting now. After the break:
- Las Vegas: Sin City turned All-American City
- Gambling in Native American Reservations
- Riverboat Gambling
- Gambling and Economic Growth

[PrinceMyshkin]

It's a noble idea and an interesting one, your academy. At the moment I have nothing to contribute but will bookmark it to see what others post.

[SleepyWitch]

It's a noble idea and an interesting one, your academy. At the moment I have nothing to contribute but will bookmark it to see what others post.

thanks Prince :)

here's part two about the hyperreal landscapes of Las Vegas. more to come.

USA: From Puritans to Gamblers - Part Two
from: Barbara HAHN: "Die USA: Vom Land der Puritaner zum Spielerparadies", in: Geographische Rundschau, vol. 57/1 (2005), p. 22-29

Las Vegas: Sin City turned All-American City

http://www.mccullagh.org/db9/1ds-4/flamingo-hotel-las-vegas.jpg
The Flamingo Hotel with its Pool Complex



opening of the Flamingo Hotel in 1946 marked beginning of a new era, spacious pool complex - -> for the first time it was possible to combine gaming with a relaxing holiday, birth of the modern resort hotel
every new hotel has to be bigger and more exiting than all the others,
exotic-sounding names: Excalibur, Bellacio, Luxor
names of cities with a positive image: New York, Paris, Venice
Hotel New York- New York (opened in 1997): replica of NY skyscrapers, Ellis Island, Brooklyn Bridge, Statue of Liberty
some hotels host whole shopping centres
gambling, entertainment and shopping are fused into “Cathedrals of Consumption” of unprecedented dimensions
many hotels make more profit from retail than from gambling
- -> hyperreal worlds: e.g. Marcus Square at Venetian hotel
creates images that many visitors take for the real thing;
they can visit these artificial worlds more easily than travelling abroad; geographical details are neglected: e.g. the Luxor’s Babylon is located in Egypt, whereas the real one isn’t
hyperreal places never disappoint visitors, unpleasant aspects of the real place are left out, e.g. pigeons, beggars, flooding, smelly canals)
state-of-the-art postmodern landscapes of consumption; Las Vegas = Disneyland in the desert
strip tease banned to back alleys - -> fun for the whole family
branches of renowned museums, eg. Guggenheim at the Venetian hotel - -> Las Vegas caters to all tastes - -> Sin City turned All-American City

some hotels opted out of family-friendliness, too many fancy trimmings scare off committed gamblers, e.g. Hilton and Bellagio aimed at gamblers who are prepared to lose a lot of money

all other gambling-location in the U.S. have tried to copy Las Vegas (= Las Vegasization)
but not even Atlantic City has succeeded, although it had a monopoly on the East coast for many years
second rate design and construction methods - -> imperfect, ridiculous hyperreal worlds

gambling is seen as a low-risk leisure activity; casino-industry trying to replace negative term ‘gambling’ by more harmless ‘gaming’

[Petrarch's Love]

Neat idea for a thread, Sleepy. Pretty interesting to trace the shifts in attitudes toward gambling over the years. I cracked up though, when I saw that my native state was spelled "Kalifornia" on the map. I usually only see it with a K when people are trying to poke gentle fun at our governator, but I guess that's the standard way it's spelled in Germany?

I'll have to think of something to add to the thread of Omniscience. Really doubt anyone wants to read the literary theory article I've just been slogging through though. :lol:

[SleepyWitch]

Neat idea for a thread, Sleepy. Pretty interesting to trace the shifts in attitudes toward gambling over the years. I cracked up though, when I saw that my native state was spelled "Kalifornia" on the map. I usually only see it with a K when people are trying to poke gentle fun at our governator, but I guess that's the standard way it's spelled in Germany?


yep, it's Kalifornien, Amerika, Kanada etc in German. Connecticut, Carolina etc. take the original C, though. I guess it's easier to stick the German -ien ending on to California, so it takes the German K, too (we've got -ien in lots of countries, Indien = India, Sibirien= Siberia, Großbritannien= Great Britain) Whereas not even the most pervert kraut could turn Connecticut into Konnektikutien ;)



I'll have to think of something to add to the thread of Omniscience. :lol:
that would be cool :)

I'll post the rest of my notes on gambling later :)

[byquist]

While "Sister Act" is a fun film, I've seen signs of ruined, or potentially ruining lives, of students. One adult student's entire youth was totally blasted by her father's gambling debt -- like no food and roaming around from apt. to apt. Another student has to hide money she makes at her job so that her husband does not have access to it. The first time she went with him, she found it entertaining; soon thereafter she realized it's negative aspect. Plus think of all the time people waste standing in line to get tickets. There's a good reason there is such a thing as Gamblers Anonymous.

[SleepyWitch]

While "Sister Act" is a fun film, I've seen signs of ruined, or potentially ruining lives, of students. One adult student's entire youth was totally blasted by her father's gambling debt -- like no food and roaming around from apt. to apt. Another student has to hide money she makes at her job so that her husband does not have access to it. The first time she went with him, she found it entertaining; soon thereafter she realized it's negative aspect. Plus think of all the time people waste standing in line to get tickets. There's a good reason there is such a thing as Gamblers Anonymous.

good points :thumbs_up there'll be a bit about Gamblers Anonymous etc in the remainder of the article, I'll post the notes from the remaining bit tomorrow