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Column
By Frank
Gillespie
The Madison County Journal
August 29, 2001
Frankly
Speaking
 State gov't shows hypocrisy
The word of the day is hypocrisy. For those who are not sure
what the word means, it refers to those who accuse others of
doing the same thing they do. For example, the Georgia government,
under the guidance of King Roy, is attacking small businesses
that offer video poker and other games of chance to the public.
According to Barnes, these game machines that can be used for
gambling are a "cancer" on society.
Meanwhile, the state of Georgia is operating a multi-million
dollar gambling industry. They call it "Lotto Georgia."
Outlets around the state sell chances to win cash prizes to people
who cannot afford to lose. But the great majority of them never
win.
Politicians argue that lottery money is used for education. The
program is beneficial, they say, and should be encouraged. And
encourage they do. Every day, the airwaves are flooded with ads
urging Georgians to play the lottery. Every day TV personalities
announce the winning numbers and state how much money players
won that day. (They never tell us how much money lottery players
lost!)
Video poker machines are also beneficial. They give small businesses
a chance to survive in a very difficult economic climate. Today,
the major chain stores dominate our economy. Small individual
or family-owned stores find it extremely difficult to compete
with these giants. Video poker machines draw customers to these
stores. Earnings from the machines augment the meager sales.
For some small community stores, these machines are the only
thing that keeps them alive.
The most significant part of the video poker battle is its effect
on individual freedom. We are Americans, after all. We are guaranteed
by our Constitution with the greatest possible degree of liberty.
That includes the liberty to do stupid things like gambling away
our hard-earned money.
I am a firm believer in individual freedom supported by personal
responsibility. People who exercise personal responsibility do
not need a government agency to tell them when to, or not to,
play video poker.
They can decide for themselves how much money they have to waste
and how to waste it.
I am also a firm believer in equality, especially between private
and public business. If it is legally and morally proper for
the government to operate a gambling business, then it is equally
legal and moral for private businesses to do the same.
Let me repeat. It is stupid of anyone to give away his or her
hard-earned money to any gambling scheme. If you have five, 10
or more dollars extra each week, put them in a savings account.
Your money will not be lost, and you will "win" the
interest the account pays. If people are determined to throw
their money away on gambling schemes, then they should have the
right to choose between government and private games. One is
just as beneficial, and just as damaging, as the other.
For the state government to demand that we "do as I say,
not as I do," is hypocrisy at its worst.
Frank Gillispie is founder of The Madison County Journal.
His web page can be accessed at www.mcga.net. His email address
is frankg@mcga.net.
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Column
By Margie
Richards
The Madison County Journal
August 29, 2001
A Moment
With Margie
 Shhh...appreciating the sound of silence
The older I get, the more I appreciate the times when it's quiet.
And those times are really getting to be quite rare.
When I was a teenager it seems there couldn't be enough noise
- and that noise had an excitement in it.
The Christmas before we were married, Charles bought me a set
of "mind blowers" - state-of- the-art speakers at that
time, and we enjoyed seeing just how high we could "turn
'em up," often making the windows of my poor old car vibrate.
Nowadays I can barely stand any sound above a quiet hum. I think
I'm a victim of "sound overload."
For example, at work, there's the shrill ring of the telephone
that demands attention, the buzz of the scanner, traffic going
by, etc.
Shopping is a bombardment of sound. Some stores blare rock-n-roll
tunes, others make announcements over PA systems, and some do
both.
Many restaurants feel the need to play music as loudly as possible
- so loudly that you have to often have to scream at your meal
companions. I avoid some restaurants because of it, even though
they may have great food.
At home, I know my son is awake by the sound of his stereo booming
against the walls in the morning.
"Turn it down" is often the first thing I say to him,
instead of "good morning."
Then of course there's the phone, the TV, the door bell, the
dishwasher, etc., etc., etc.
In the car, there's not only the radio, there's now a phone and
pager to contend with.
With all this noise, it's no wonder we're a nervous, neurotic
lot. We can't think quietly; we can't reflect on anything. We
don't even take time to know who we are.
I'm learning to cultivate quietness, because it's in those times
that I know what I really feel and think about the things around
me.
I can often find God in those quiet times. Sometimes when I don't
hear Him speak, I realize I haven't been listening. He won't
shout at me - he won't compete with the phone, the radio, the
TV.
Speaking of TV, I saw a show on the Travel Channel some time
back talking about quiet places to go. One was a Convent. The
Sisters moved quietly through their day; gardening, cooking,
going to chapel service.
Visitors and guests who came there for a retreat sat outside
and read or meditated quietly, took a stroll through the woods,
or spent time in prayer and reflection in the chapel.
Once I would have thought such a place incredibly boring; now
I find the idea idyllic.
Although most of us probably can't go on such a retreat, we can
find moments throughout any day to cultivate a sense of inner
peace. Maybe we should all try turning off the TV, the phone,
the outside world sometimes.
We might just be surprised at what we'd hear.
Margie Richards is a reporter and office manager for the Madison
County Journal.
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