Applying the Principles
- Legal Principle: When competent adults wager their validly obtained property on an event with uncertain outcomes, there is no victim, so there is no breach. The aggressor is the one that prevents them from doing so.
- A rigged gambling system, like a slot machine that doesn’t work as advertised, is simply fraud.
- In an extreme example where someone is pathologically addicted to gambling such that their capacity to consent is compromised, it is possible that the wager is not deemed a valid contract, which a court might find to be a civil breach of the Legal Principle.
- Moral Principle: Gambling does not inhibit the goal of optimising human happiness and wellbeing. Responsible gambling is no breach. This does not mean it should be endorsed – gambling has destroyed the lives of many, and can cause people to be dishonest and irresponsible.
Conclusion
Gambling is not incompatible with the 3L Philosophy, but that is not an endorsement of it. A civilised society requires an understanding of the difference between the legality of something and whether that thing is a healthy and responsible activity.
