Last week we heard about Gary, Indiana, whose long-suffering steel industry now employs only a third of the people it did back in the seventies. With a frighteningly high crime rate and one of the most blighted downtown areas in the nation, Gary has turned to the gambling industry in a desperate attempt to brings jobs and revenue into its ravaged local economy. Folks had to be convinced of easy access to parking by the shore and promise that casino patrons wouldn't have to go near the dangerous downtown district.
Citizens are unsure of the long-term benefits, though.
While many acknowledge that jobs are desperately needed, they worry about the degrading effect of gambling on the already-fraying moral fiber of the community. Indeed, the rise of gambling in St. Louis and many other midwestern towns has had devastating social consequences. Meanwhile, the social and political stresses brought on by the gaming surge are being keenly felt by Indian nations - who, taking advantage of their rights to run casinos on sovereign reservation land, have quietly been making some considerable profits for over a decade. The Oneida Nation runs a very profitable casino in Verona, New York. This is not the first time gaming has brought controversy to the Oneida nation.