David McElroy

I can’t seem to escape children lately. It’s not that I’m trying to avoid them, but I seem to see them everywhere I go — happy children and proud parents full of love for those kids.

I don’t have any children yet, but I really want them. Given the circumstances of my life, I might never have any. I’m told that having the right woman agree to be the mother of your children is one of the prerequisites — and that part is beyond my control.

The closest things I’ve had to kids have been my nieces, Katherine and Anna, and my animals, too numerous to mention by name. (The picture above is about four years old. Anna’s the one on the left with the huge grin. The picture below is Anna with me at the Birmingham Zoo.) They live three hours from me, so I don’t see them as often as I’d like, but I love them very much and I’m proud of them. They’re wonderful girls.

Still, I’d like to have my own family. I bring this up partly because the subject of children and family keeps coming up in my life lately, but also because I was thinking about something related to it over the weekend.

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Now that the dictatorial regime of Muammar Gaddafi is ending, we’re starting to see some people suggest that the outcome is a vindication of Barack Obama’s policy in Libya.

Let’s review the facts. First, Gaddafi was a dictator and he wasn’t an especially sane or pleasant man. Second, there are plenty of other countries run by unpleasant men. (They almost always seem to be men, don’t they?) Third, Libya had not attacked the United States or any other country.

Under these circumstances, there’s no sane reason for the United States (and other foreign powers) to send their military forces into the country to topple the government. It might make us all feel better — at least until the next guy becomes Dictator of the Week and arouses an outcry.

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Gambling is a hot political issue in some places, but the centerpiece of the economy in a few others. In all places, though, gambling is a bit like a tax on people who don’t understand math.

I don’t understand the allure of gambling, so it’s never been a temptation to me. (But the various other things considered vices have never been of interest to me, either, so that’s not a surprise.) But if people choose to waste their money on gambling as a form of entertainment, hey, it’s their money, not mine. The people who make arguments against gambling on religious grounds or social grounds are basically asserting the right to make the decision for other people — and that’s wrong.

A friend asked me this over the weekend:

“What do you think gambling does to the economy? Of course I don’t think it should be illegal, but I don’t think it’s necessarily good for our economy, either. But I don’t know because I don’t have enough information on that to make a decent conclusion. Now playing the lottery is what my cousin always called ‘the stupid tax’ (and I agree there, because you’re really just giving more money to the government unless you’re one of the very few who wins), but I wonder about casinos and such, too. It’s so intricate, because where there’s gambling there’s addiction and people going into debt.”

First, I agree completely with my friend about the legality of gambling. If you want to gamble, that’s your business. It’s your life. It’s your money. I don’t think it’s a wise decision, but you probably don’t think some of my decisions are wise. I don’t have the right to control you any more than you have the right to control me.

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