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Comment by TrackerFF | Hacker News Reader

The gamblification of the country will go down as one of the darker chapters of USA.

The gamblification of everything is just another stepping stone on the path to the financialization of everything. Many of our best and brightest dedicate their lives to “financial innovation”. It’s sad.

Gamblification is very, very different from financialization.

It’s the financialization of outcomes.

Who does it though? I feel that many people that gamble are the ones that feel "they know better" and they don't see any better way to use their money. Having a part of the population with those attributes seems the root cause of the issue, rather than the specific mechanism they use.

Some of it is, but Polymarket is a horse of a different color.

A financialization example: Somehow some company's stock became the go-to for investors that had continuous expectations just for the stock, and not about actual company health. And the company chose to prop up the stock quarter per quarter, instead of investing in long term development, until it crashed.

This is somewhat similar to dangers of gamblification I guess. Where the expectations of the investors (gamblers) start shaping the decisions of the professional management of the company.

Indeed. Imagine a future where all news have a permanent “place your bet on this event! No money? No problem! 36 month financing plan available” banner in the side. You’ll first just have to purchase some stable coin that the broker mints. Automatic wage garnishment if you default.

You won’t have to buy stable coins, you’ll just pay with your credit cards. This is basically sports gambling applied to the sport of news. I bet they’ll use the same kind of emotional manipulation too: “Real republicans (fans) bet here.” You’ll be watching a political debate and then you’ll have a “the DraftKings Minute” debate analysis segment which is like three guys that don’t know anything about politics screaming about odds.

This sounds exactly like the timeline we are in.

The US will be the last casino he'll bankcrupt.

Gamblification is everywhere, not just in US. Eastern Europe is cooked in this regard. LATAM the same probably.

I hear bad things about the state of Australia’s gambling industry

Yep. Can't get a drink in NSW without seeing people wasting their pay check on the pokies.

Still a good chance that something will happen in these four years that makes the gambling crisis look completely trivial. I suppose I should bet on that, or would it be in poor taste?

Many, many years ago the libertarians had something they called "assassination politics", in which it was pointed out that the ability to bet on the death of famous figures also created an "untraceable" way to funnel money to someone who could make that event happen.

Isn't this just the result of unregulated capitalism?

Gambling isn't the problem (it can be regulated and safety measures can be put in place). It's the corruption that goes alongside betting on outcomes that can be easily manipulated with no common-sense oversight keeping the market fair.

The Nobel Peace Prize bet was a classic example. Any right-minded bookmaker would have voided that bet given that it was proven that the outcome had leaked ahead of time. Venezuela betting markets were equally corrupted.

The fish rots from the head what with Trump blatantly manipulating markets to enrich himself, his family and anyone who curries favour with him and says he's wonderful.

I personally will not set foot in the US, or buy services from any US company, until this administration is over.

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