For most of a century, Utah has been in a precarious position geographically. Its western and part of its southern boundaries touch a state that was built on the profits of games of chance, an inherently greedy business that attracts more suckers daily than a Tootsie Pop convention.
That position now seems to be getting more and more precarious by the hour.
First, the town of Wendover, Utah, may soon defect to Wendover, Nev., with the blessing of Utah's Rep. Jim Hansen, among others. An act of Congress is needed to redraw a state's boundaries, and yet that appears possible, although the Nevada side of the town is balking.
Frankly, the move makes economic sense. Wendover has few reasons for existing other than the tourism that comes with casinos, and that is glaringly obvious when one looks at the depressed Utah side of the border town and compares it with the glittering Nevada side.
But the message this sends is troubling. It's almost as if the world of gambling is racking one up in the win column. Comparisons with the Berlin wall come easily. In the metaphor that results, the west side of Wendover represents prosperity and freedom, while the east is full of dark depression. That was the theme of a recent Las Vegas advertising campaign, by the way — freedom. These are the same folks who insist on using the word "gaming" when referring to gambling. Take away two little letters and the subject changes from one with moral implications to one that involves little more than a harmless game; a form of entertainment with little risk. All of these images couldn't be more wrong.
Secondly, the Nevada Legislature last week passed a bill that would make Internet gambling legal in that state. The bill has a provision that requires casinos to reject bets from anyone who logs on in a state where such gambling is illegal. But in the abra-cadabra, now-you-see-it-now-you-don't world of the Internet, that has about as much chance of working as would a law that keeps Nevada's air from drifting over the border. Anyone who really wants to make a bet will find a way to do it.
The untold story to all of this is that the bill violates a federal law that prohibits interstate gambling conducted over the telephone. The Constitution grants Congress the right to regulate interstate commerce, which clearly covers what Nevada's casinos want to do. The question is, will the Justice Department do anything about it? I'm guessing no, which makes Utah's position all the more precarious.
Utah's lawmakers have stayed as far away from the edge of the gambling pit as possible, outlawing all forms of it. They have sound reasons for doing so, although these tend to get drowned out in conversation. These represent the well-worn but true wisdom of an earlier age — that gambling erodes the work ethic and breeds a selfishness that demands instant rewards; that it teaches the opposite of frugality and hard work, two things that give people the wisdom to know what to do with wealth when they get it. And, most of all, that it enslaves those who do it so compulsively they find themselves under a mountain of debt. Some freedom.
Gambling exists to make a few people very rich, and these people are not the ones putting down their hard-earned money and playing the odds. As a former resident of Las Vegas, I can be trusted on this one. The gambling industry would never support anything unless it promised to fatten their wallets.
Last year, when Congress was considering a bill that would have specifically outlawed Internet gambling, the Nevada casinos stood firmly behind the measure. That was because they viewed the thousands of cyberspace casinos, virtually all of which were operating on foreign soil, as threats. But in the middle of the debate, Nevada Gov. Richard Bryan told the Las Vegas Review-Journal to expect the casinos to abruptly change their tune if the measure failed. This is the normal pattern, after all. First they fight competition. Then they try to embrace it and control it.
Sure enough, when the bill failed narrowly, the casinos changed sides. Now they support Internet gambling. But Nevada's version sets the licensing fees so high that only the largest casinos will get in on the act — and it's an act some estimate could be worth $6 billion by 2003.
Meanwhile, the air of gambling keeps drifting this way. Now, a new business has opened in Utah that allows people to play games of chance without actually gambling. The owner, a former dealer in Wendover, said he is not promoting gambling. Instead, he is promoting "casino fun."
Frankly, that's flirting a little too much with a precarious edge, particularly when the real thing is as close as the nearest modem.
Jay Evensen is editor of the Deseret News editorial page. E-mail: even@desnews.com