Responsibility for our own actions

The OP is really misleading about why the betting firm was fined ( and I agree with the PP who said it should have lost its licence). This firm ( registered in Gibraltar- I wonder why?)was fined because it ignored the express wishes of 7000 people trying their best to not bet by voluntarily banning themselves from gambling on the company's site and the firm allowed them to continue to access their accounts. The gamblers were taking responsibility and deserved to be supported in this. My link to the Guardian article demonstrated the really dirty tricks that some betting companies are using - deliberately targeting people who have stopped gambling and/or are on low incomes. It comes to something doesn't it when we as human beings think that the 'nanny state' shouldn't try to help and support people who are already trying to help themselves and we should just let them be treated badly because it's up to them to show personal responsibility. And that's before the issue of gambling as an addiction. If society means anything, then there should also be corporate responsibility. Out of interest, I went on the 888 website ( the firm that was fined) and it's frankly a disgrace.

But MawBrown Gambling is an addiction/illness and if one is addicted to gambling they need help.

There should be a limit as to how much one can spend on online gambling at any given time.

It does not cure the addict, however it limits the actual gambling.

I think the whole of society has a moral duty to support those who are frail, mentally or physically.. and companies have an obligation not to take advantage of such people.
Those of us who are lucky enough to be self regulating and healthy should, of course, show some restraint.

Saw that on the news but it's what you can expect with online betting some people are just not responsible for their actions
It's rediculous what these company's let them do. They just want their money.

My maternal grandmother bought endless goods from the 'tally man' and her children were hungry and poorly dressed, although my grandfather had a decent job. Perhaps retail therapy was her answer to an unhappy life, who knows, but it certainly didn't help her children. There does seem to be a trend to blame others for the results of personal weaknesses; I had a neighbour whose child stole a bottle of nail polish from a local shop and the owner rang the parents rather than the police, only to be told that it was his fault for having things on display. I imagine that child grew up with a slightly distorted sense of what was acceptable behaviour, and an article in a newspaper recently had a similar story line from a person who felt that it was the fault of retailers for having goods on display. Another article said that student' exam cheating was the fault of teachers who should be more vigilant. I am struggling to see how. There are doubtlessly individuals who have serious problems with addiction but we do seem to have a 'no shame, no blame' culture now which tries to excuse absolutely anything

All this "toughen up and take responsibility " stuff presupposes that everyone is equally capable, and that everyone is in a situation they can control. That's not always so.

My maternal Grandfather was a compulsive gambler, he had a good job but my Mother grew up in poverty. remembers going hungry, and no shoes for going to school. She had to leave school at 12 to help out the family and used to hide her wages in her knickers so her father could not find them. It has coloured her entire life, and at 97 is still afraid of "the poorhouse".
Gambling is an awful addiction and the fine this company recieved is not enough, they should have their licence revoked.

I think freezing the interest on huge credit card debts is a good idea marpau as long as the person wasn't allowed to carry on running up more debts and it is a once only chance . From experience it's so easy to let credit cards get out of control when you don't have a steady income or your income fluctuates a bit. There are many times when if it hadn't been for credit cards I wouldn't have been able to buy essentials . Luckily I have always managed to pay the minimum payments but the interest can be massive .
It's so easy to judge others but the words "walk a mile in someone else's shoes" springs to mind .

I saw an item on the news where someone was calling for those with large credit cards debt which they were not reducing to have all interest suspended what message does this send to responsible people who do reduce their debt?

My ex husband was a compulsive gambler. He held down a good job as a Director of a re insurance brokers in the City ...he drew out his 'spending money' on a Friday night...went to the pub, played the fruit machines ..Sat morning to the bookies to gamble on Greyhounds ..Sat afternoon back to the bookies to gamble on the horses ....then played cards in the pub on Sat evening, for money. By Sunday he had run out of money, so he took anything he could find ...my daughter 's (who was 4 at the time) toys, etc ...even took bottles of spirits from our drinks cupboard, bought a book of lottery tickets which he sold for £1 each at the pub and presented the winner with one of the bottles !!....strange men would come to the door and demand money or they were going to beat him up ....like an idiot for years I paid them from the money I saved from working full time.......he even came up to my office one lunch time for £300 to pay someone .to this day I really don't know why I paid up for him, and defended him to everyone ! Eventually one of his colleagues told the rest of the directors , as he was often seen not going into Lloyds but into the bookies ! Then he set up a separate company bank account and somehow was syphoning off money from the company to that account .....he was caught ....I telephoned the company and told his fellow directors that he was a compulsive gambler ..they said they were not going to dismiss him (anyone who knows the City knows this goes on, to save face for the company !) ...but that forthwith they were going to pay all his salary, bonuses, etc into a bank account in my sole name. and suggest he join GA ..which, of course with any addict joining a support group unless it is of your own volition, is never going to work ! Happy he was not ! I would give him money on a Friday ....he broke my ribs once as I refused him any more money ! I was chased with a knife had my finger broken in the car door ...I could go on ! Eventually I discovered he had not been paying the mortgage ...fortunately at that time I was working in Conveyancing, and managed to stall the repossession, He then left (guess for whom ?! ...the barmaid from the local pub where he spent all his time and a lot of money !) ...this was a blessing in disguise ....I managed to sell the house, and with the profit (which I took in full ...long story (!) I moved 300 miles away with my daughter to a town where I knew no one but could afford to buy a mortgage free house and start again !! I can't even bear to buy a lottery ticket myself ....

With my second husband, who is addicted to spending money I have now taken over all the finances and make sure we have no debts whatever ...even if it means getting shouted at because I try to stop him spending above our income ......I never knew this before but his daughter told me, when I discovered a number for the AA (not the motoring organisation !) that his late wife, her mother, belonged to their support group as her dad had been an alcoholic ! He still drinks although the doc has told him not to, but he limits himself to a few small bottles of lager a day .......my brother told me 'You certainly know how to pick 'em !

So ... you will never force anyone to reform if they themselves have no interest in doing so, unfortunately .....and, just watching last night an Ambulance programme, where a crew spent three hours with an alcoholic really made me angry ...their time could have been spent saving someone who wanted to live ......sorry, but I do agree that anyone 'suffering' from an addiction should NOT be given priorty ....it is a matter of will power and only the fault of themselves.

We used to be given proper financial education by our parents, and were told not to spend more than you have, and not to gamble more than you can afford to lose. It's always easier to blame others but it's about time we all became more responsible.

There was even a short article about it on the back page of last week's Sunday Times (business section.)

I do agree that people should take responsibility for their own actions. I do, however, find the online betting companies seriously worrying. Many of the people who get hooked on those are students or housewives, who are at home much of the time with very little money. The promise of not only a lovely payout, but also a group of new 'friends' may sound irresistable.

gillybob Me too. Were we always such a judgmental, intolerant society?

I think there are all kinds of people who are not able to manage certain aspects of life, from all across the board.
My neighbour was a successful business woman, until she had a stroke some time ago. I now consider her very vulnerable, as her understanding of situations has decreased, she is quite depressed, and is easily taken advantage of.

then you haven't been in close contact with an addictgoldengirl sadly I have and she knew and blamed no one but herself for her situation even though she couldn't find the strength to get herself sorted .She died after "celebrating" her 50th birthday ...alcohol was her addiction and she and her whole family .me as on one of that family did everything in our power to get her off the drink.She tried and was defeated many times ..sometimes the circumstances that life throws at you are too hard to cope with without a crutch..it was for her .She was a lovely bright ,happy friendly young woman until she had the problem that made her pick up that drink ...just like many others ,it was never her intention to become dependant on it

Everything is a social construct. We create the world live in for better or worse. Once bankruptcy became a no stigma affair we had people being profligate with money, I remember the 'Bank of Mum and Dad' on TV young people in masses of debt for hand bags and make up, we have people, however stupid and in some cases downright dishonest, being encouraged to claim for whip lash or holiday sickness, where do you think these things come from? They come from the way in which ambulance chasing lawyers have been created.

It is the same with addictions, some people succumb more easily than others but it is their own choice to start.

We have very high numbers of STD now having created a permssive society.

We consturct the ways in which we live and create the casualties as we go.

I think I have in my working life and private life, helped as many people as those who want to continue the victim status of their clients, which is unhealthy and of no real value, unless we are reverting back to the legal leeches who are always ready to claim on their behalf and at the expense of the rest of us.

I hwas gambling more than I should have online some time ago, and blocked myself from a couple of sites; that takes willpower which is fleeting and difficult for someone in those circumstances, but it would have been much better if there had been a mechanism whereby in one fell swoop I could have blocked myself from all online gambling sites; not sure how it would work, but that would be a useful initaive for the govt. to look into.

Things change. People and circumstance change. Mental health can change, ether gradually, or in the blink of an eye. Support is needed, for those who, for whatever reason, haven't 'self control'.

Buck passing is the name of the game even in government circles I've discovered. It's never a personal fault - it's always someone else's. How has this happened? I certainly learned to take responsibility in my youth - and there were often times when I didn't like it but tough! Yes there are people with mental health problems - and here I am again on the subject of poor quality support - but not everyone is out of control and needs help some people need to learn self control; not easy and quite harsh I know.

Yes exactly MissAdventure

Any one of us could find ourselves going down the path of feeling that if we could just get lucky, just once, it would help us out of a situation.
I'm grateful it hasn't been me, as yet.

The thing is though, that this has always been around it's just different now we have online gambling and even those without work have access to a small amount of money . Why would they not take a chance ( however small it might be) just to try and improve their lives? My grandad used to tell me some horrific stories of men being paid cash at the dock gates for a days work only to gamble it and drink it away within the hour , then go home and take their failure and hopelessness out in their poor wife and children . Stories of men who pawned their children's shoes to gamble on a horse (that invariably lost) in the tiny hope that "this one would be lucky".

I think one can accept what radical has said in general terms AND look sympathetically at how to deal with trouble people get themselves into because of addiction.

My thoughts exactly paddyann I can't believe some if the posts on this thread .