I am a proud member of Generation X, far more virtuous and responsible than the Baby Boomers, and far less self-entitled than the Millennials (ie Gen Y).
I would say that the main flaw with my Generation is that we have a bit of a problem understanding Irony.
I will give you two examples.
One is Alannis Morrisette’s 1996 hit ‘Ironic’, which I quite enjoyed almost 30 years ago. She gives us many examples of things which she considers ‘Ironic’, but which actually are not quite so.
The other is Winona Ryder’s character in the great archetypical Gen X 1994 rom-com ‘Reality Bites’ (who could fail to remember her classic pick up line “I’m a non-practising virgin”.). There is a scene where she is discussing Irony with Ethan Hawke and he gives a dictionary perfect definition of it in clarification.
So my Generation might have a problem with understanding what Irony means some of the time.
Thankfully Crown Casino, opened in the flower of our adulthood (the 1990s when we were mostly in our twenties), is there to help remind us of what Irony is really all about.
The news today advised us that Crown Casino is arguing financial problems in relation to the payment schedule for a $450 million agreed penalty with AUSTRAC for what has been described as ‘very egregious conduct’.
Much as I have no problem with people choosing to gamble, I am skeptical about when governments legalise gambling. It is never done to maximise individual liberty (something which I support), but solely as a means to ensure that government gets a cut of the house take (something I do not really like) in taxes.
Aside from its large bank of poker machines to lure in and beguile the less imaginative gambler, Crown has as many tables as any of the casinos in Vegas for the more sophisticated gambler.
And aside from the social harm caused by gambling, where many people beg, borrow and steal to feed their habits, after first exhausting their own resources and those of their families, the high volume of cash turning over in casinos does raise the spectre of money laundering by crime syndicates. It is this which Crown has failed to properly address.
Which leaves its legal representatives arguing today that there would be ‘very significant financial hardship’ to Crown if they were to be forced to cough up the $450 million settlement immediately.
Isn’t it Ironic, don’t you think?
Lost For Words! 