No gambling under bin Laden

Not to make light of the current geopolitical-religious-cultural situation, but if bin Laden had his way, it’s safe to assume that Las Vegas, Reno, Atlantic City, Tunica, and other communities whose economies depend on gaming-related tourism would be out of business. Oh yeah, all women working in the hospitality business would have to quit, and homosexuals…well, it looks like holding down a job in a casino would be the least of their worries. From the Telegraph:

Osama bin Laden wants the United States to convert to Islam, ditch its constitution, abolish banks, jail homosexuals and sign the Kyoto climate change treaty.

The first complete collection of the Saudi’s statements published today portrays a world in which Islam’s enemies will take the first steps towards salvation by embracing the “religion of all the Prophets”.

His terms for America’s surrender appeared after the September 2001 suicide attacks and include demands that amount to the abandonment of much of western life.

Alcohol and gambling would be barred and there would be an end to women’s photos in newspapers or advertising.

Any woman serving “passengers, visitors and strangers”, presumably anyone from air stewardesses to waitresses, would also be out of a job.

The West must “stop your oppression, lies, immorality and debauchery that has spread among you” and has become the “worst civilisation witnessed in the history of mankind”.

The world of bin Laden: no drinks, no gambling, no pictures of women

This is particularly interesting, because apparently the leaders of the 9/11 hijackings made several trips to Las Vegas, where they were not shy about drinking, gambling, or hitting the strip clubs.

All of this begs the question of whether things like gambling need liberal, tolerant regimes to survive. I think that this might make for a neat essay topic or lecture, but I’ll share some quick thoughts here. In my historical studies, it’s been apparent that gambling can flourish under virtually any kind of government. All of you History Channel buffs might be interested to learn that the Nazis permitted the Baden Baden casino to reopen in 1933. There’s more about the “Nazi casinos” in Roll the Bones, and I would not be surprised to see a History Channel special on “Hitler’s casinos” someday. Casino resorts were also permitted in apartheid-era South Africa, which was not exactly an open society. So while bin Laden’s special brand of authoritarianism has no place for gambling, it would be a mistake to generalize too far about democracy being a necessary pre-condition for casinos.