Plato Negro On the Gambler


The gambler is a sick man walking, a little sick puppy in a world of many other sick puppies, drug addicts, alcoholics, speed freaks, and the many suffering from the addiction to white supremacy. But the gambler exhibits traits that reveal the extreme effects of white supremacy addiction. He is hopeless in desiring a quick turnover of his fate in life, having faith in the Fates to deliver him home safely and with good fortune. He believes the Fates are with him, yes, in his warped mind and confounded conviction that he must win, thus in his delusion God is with him or he is with God, which on the positive is a good thing, the very essence of spirituality, but on the downside, the murderer and drug dealer can say that God is with him. While we know better, we know God is not with murderers and drug dealers or others who poison the people with games of chance, and let’s put those sub-prime scam international bankers in the forefront of Gamblers Anonymous.

Like any other addict, the gambler must detoxify his desire to win at any cost, no matter the odds stacked against him. The gambler will not quit while he is ahead but is not happy and satisfied until he has lost all, but he cares , for his rationale is that the world is but a gamble so why not do all or nothing? If you’re going to do, do it in a big way, is the gambler’s mantra.

The gambler is highly motivated although his delusion is that his activities are merely occasional and recreational. In his denial, he has no problem and should be left alone to pursue his dreams. He works hard, so why not play hard? In his wretched mind, he is doing fine, so get out of his mix, his grill.

We see a concerted effort by family and friends to intervene with the gambler but he waves them away, for his addiction is turning for the worse, he is not able to make it to work in the morning or to makes those monthly bills, his love life is going down hill but he is oblivious to it in his classic tragic blindness of ego and selfishness.

He will ultimately lose family and friends because the addiction goes from bad to worse, until we reach that classic rock bottom. Maybe in our exhaustion, we consider the possibility of recovery and the reconstruction of family, which, as with all addicts, is the only road to sanity, for people are above profits, love is priceless and the gambler ultimately comes to this realization or pursues his addiction until he dies, until he is with the homeless, the down and out, the skid row community of derelicts and soup kitchen attendees famous at Glide Church, Saint Anthony’s, St. Martin De Poores and St. Vincent De Paul..
--Plato Negro
9.7.08