Yegor, aka Alone. The rambling you're writing here might impress an easily swayed crowd (in line with propaganda traditions). But I expect specifics and arguments from you, supported not by unsubstantiated claims, but by facts. I asked you to formulate the principle of truthfulness. Instead, you provided a lengthy text with only one reference related to this so-called principle, a reference without a formulation of the principle itself, a reference to an unknown person who became interested in something and scribbled something down. Have you become some kind of sect member? When you write: "I'll quote: 'It is estimated that there are about ten million people addicted to gambling in the United States alone,'" you are taking it out of context (by the way, who estimates this?). Before that, in this populist article, it says: "Studies show that one in ten players suffers from gambling addiction." And even if we accept these unsubstantiated claims (since there are no references to the studies themselves) as a given, it turns out that only 10% of the audience experiences harm from gambling. Well, that's a normal statistic for mental deviations in modern society. (There are far more alcoholics in proportion to the total number of alcohol consumers.) So, what does that mean? That there are 100 million players in the US? The population of the US as of May 16, 2014, was 317.8 million people. In 2008, it was around 305 million. As of February 2008, 153,374,000 people were economically active (including the unemployed). Someone, it seems, is lying... In the conditions of modern capitalism, gambling establishments are a unique financial regulator. On the one hand, it is a huge industry, it creates jobs, it provides salaries, and it generates revenue for the budget. On the other hand, if someone loses everything (and addiction begins when a person loses money that they shouldn't be gambling with and stops controlling themselves), then this is just an element of natural selection in this system. Let's quote the article mentioned by Elon: "Note: the issue is not the size of the win or the bet. The sin lies in the fact that the principle of greed is present in this pleasure. A Christian who believes that a certain desire for profit is permissible, as long as he does not make large bets, completely misunderstands what the apostle Paul is talking about in 1 Timothy 6:9-11: 'For those who desire to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.'" http://skopych.kiev.ua/2012/08/16/azartnye-igry-opredeleniya-i-osobennosti-chast-1-fil-dzhonson/ The author of the article, a certain Phil Johnson, forgets to take the next logical step: if one follows Christian positions, or rather, the positions of Christian dogmas, then the monetary system itself should be completely and utterly destroyed, and not just its individual aspects (such as gambling). But Phil Johnson will never say that. Because the activities of his pseudo-religious organization are funded by the money of so-called parishioners. Now, let's return to Russia. In the Russian language, the word "azart" has a specific meaning. Unlike the definition in legislation, which states that gambling is an agreement based on risk about winning, "azart" according to Dal is enthusiasm, a spark, fervor, impetuosity. Dal lived a long time ago. Since then, the definitions of various concepts have been clarified and expanded. And today, there are several definitions, but they all essentially boil down to the fact that: "azart" is an emotion associated with the anticipation of success. And it turns out that any game in which you want to win and experience emotions is a gambling game. Children play hide-and-seek – without any money – but what emotions and experiences, what "azart" does this game evoke! And when epic fails or epic victories happen in Heroes (without any stakes)? Isn't that "azart"? What about football? What about everything else? And it turns out that any game that gives us emotions is, by definition, a gambling game.