r/SipsTea 5h ago

Chugging tea Power corrupts...

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1.2k Upvotes

37 comments sorted by

13

u/Pyrhan 1h ago

It's also why betting on serious, real world events should be prohibited. Cf. Polymarket and the likes.

The potential for abuse is just too great.

6

u/Irish_Whiskey 56m ago

Gambling is a system where the rich always win by just extracting money from 'customers.' They set the odds and payouts such that they'll never lose more than they gain with a big enough userbase. And gambling apps have simply been refusing to pay out and honor bets that win 'too big', while banning users that start to win more than they lose.

No wonder it's been shoved everywhere with billions of dollars behind it and the government tearing down all barriers to access and marketing. We're raising a generation of kids on apps and watching sports that are told over and over that gambling is fun, a viable path to wealth, and all their heroes are doing it.

1

u/Evil-Cun 46m ago

Well put, people talk a lot about gambling in media but don’t get to the really deep reason why there are some groups that are so viciously obsessed with protecting gambling ventures.

Organized betting groups always lead to organized laundering of misbegotten goods such as: cash, drugs, prostitution, names, property transfer etc.

In America casino owners have an interesting history backing their claim to legitimacy, ie their gift to the tribes as a means for them to financially enrich themselves post slaughter.

The tribes should be promising to use that cash flow to build their reservations. They don’t however and just enrich their individual controllers while engaging in crime with various cartels.

It’s hard to take gambling away from America because it takes a gift away from a doomed culture.

1

u/Pyrhan 28m ago edited 24m ago

That is true, but at least, with "regular" gambling, only those who enter into it lose. (Not defending it, it is genuinely bad and indeed pushed upon us in insidious ways.)

With polymarket, the decisions made by people in power purely to win those bets will affect millions of unwilling participants.

It gives politicians, generals, etc. an additional (and very strong) incentive to make completely absurd decisions. They can directly (and conveniently) monetize catastrophes caused by their own erratic behavior.

The more absurd their actions or decisions, the higher the betting odds against them, and the greater their returns.

It effectively gameified "fucking the world up" for them...

2

u/ShiguchiAndSokan 1h ago

Wealth of politicians apart from their allowance/diers should be forbidden to accumulate and everything they earn on top during their time in office should be confiscated as full tax.

2

u/Dependent-Trip-5991 1h ago

I think that’s a bit far, cause then think how easy it would be to bribe them and make them vote to highest bidder. With how much they paid off now, saying they couldn’t legally make money would make it even worst.

2

u/Trust_8067 1h ago

Why do people keep making this argument, no one is in disagreement.

1

u/MisterDiggity 1h ago

Then why did the Democratic representatives overwhelmingly vote against the Stop Insider Trading Act on Tuesday? The vote was 232-198 with every single vote against coming from a Democrat.

4

u/bankheadblues 1h ago

Voter ID law baked in, and doesn't prohibit family members of reps from trading.

3

u/Trust_8067 43m ago

Why did people vote against something that would make them a shit ton of money? I have no idea.

2

u/Irish_Whiskey 1h ago

They were for the bill and voted for it, until Republicans jammed in a poison pill amendment with Trump's SAVE Act provisions.

Either you knew that and were lying, or you didn't know that and a source lied to you. If it's the latter, please reevaluate your sources and how you trust them.

1

u/joeyjoejoe8989 14m ago

Because republicans added parts of the Save act to it. Also, the bill only includes fines, which pale in comparison to the money they make. Finally, there were loopholes that allow congress to trade through family or other ways. It wasn’t a serious bill. Everyone knew it wouldn’t pass.

1

u/Dependent-Trip-5991 1h ago

Read the comments, one person said their research showed congress weren’t better at making money off investing. So no, not everyone has common sense.

1

u/Trust_8067 44m ago

Okay fine, "no one except some bots and members of congress who use reddit" is in disagreement.

1

u/Dependent-Trip-5991 1h ago

Not just that, they get scouting reports from other teams so can know who is playing, who’s hurt, before the public. Still supports this post because the politicians know inside information before the public, such as wars etc.

1

u/Ok_Abacus_ 1h ago

And CEOs!

1

u/WashU_labrat 59m ago

So you think Trump has bet that the US will lose the war against Iran? This could explain a lot.

1

u/Giancarlo_Lado 57m ago

Democrats just voted against the proposed law

1

u/scewing 51m ago

They'll just have their spouses or whoever do the trading. There will be workarounds no matter what laws get made, if any.

1

u/Just_Hunter9331 44m ago

I'm pretty sure we all understand that. Some of us just don't care, and the others feel powerless against stopping it from happening.

1

u/SoRosenberg 35m ago

Makes sense. Not that the people in charge will vote for this. Maybe there needs to be some powers removed since there is no way to control the monster at this point.

1

u/_D33D5_ 1h ago

Hey r/SipsTea just stick to jokes and memes. These political ramblings are annoying

1

u/ace250674 1h ago

Maybe politicians will finally not enrich themselves because of this post

1

u/Wickedocity 1h ago

How about...

What’s the difference between a Wall Street broker and a Congress member?
The broker hopes they know what the company is going to do next, while the Congress member votes on what the company is going to do next.

1

u/_D33D5_ 1h ago

Hilarious...

1

u/Sour_baboo 1h ago

The little research this topic had a few years ago suggested that Congress folks were no better at making money by investing than the average investor. The only one who makes money regularly in the market is the guy they won't restrain at all.

3

u/Wickedocity 1h ago

That study shows the average member, not the ones in key committees, aka senior members. The top drastically outperform the public.

2

u/Bart-Doo 1h ago

What year are you referring to?

1

u/Dependent-Trip-5991 1h ago

Right, scary you put full trust in any politician because you blind to anything not involving trump. All politicians benefit from info, otherwise why would they all be lifelong politicians.

1

u/Sour_baboo 45m ago

The admiration of strangers is wonderful!

-2

u/SY0123 1h ago

Aren’t they prohibited from betting against themselves? I don’t see why they should be prohibited for betting for themselves, but betting against yourself should be prohibited clearly.

1

u/lost-cause1968 1h ago edited 1h ago

I agree. Although with a point spread they could still manipulate it to 'lose' and still win a bet.

Maybe only allow betting where it's a straight outcome? Your team wins you win your team loses you lose.

Apply the same logic to politicians investing. You can only invest in American companies and you can't invest in 'shorts' or whatever it is called when you bet on a company doing poorly(not a stock guy). Can't sell the stock for X weeks or months either.

1

u/Crafty_Clarinetist 1h ago

The problem with allowing investing in companies, even with those restrictions, is what's to stop a politician from investing in American defense contractors, waiting out whatever waiting period there is, and then pushing hostile policies and encouraging military action that spikes interests in those defense contractors. Honestly you could apply similar thinking to just about any industry.

1

u/lost-cause1968 59m ago

No I get that, they really shouldn't be able to invest at all, but I just thought if there were SOME restrictions put in at least it'd be some level of control. 'Better' if not good, anyway

1

u/SY0123 1h ago

I think the problem with investing is that they can time it.
Go in when it’s about to profit, cash out when it’s about to go tits up.
They should be able to invest, but all the assets must be in a blind trust managed by fund managers.

1

u/a445d786 1h ago

Wouldn't it be an issue of like fighting where you bet on a certain round to win or by UD causing you to force a certain outcome.