Gambling as National Pastime
Terry H. Schwadron
Sept. 13, 2026
Somewhere along the push against adherence to 9-to-5, in-office schedules to a more flexible work landscape, we have decided to fall in love with gambling as easy income.
The skyrocketing prediction markets have caused betting-as-a-living to move well beyond even the constant financial market speculation of day traders and the hope-for millions from lottery tickets. The legalized sports betting market already was outlandishly huge, of course, but now we’re betting on government, speech choices, elections and chances for war.
Prediction markets have become the new national pastime, says an op-ed in The Guardian. Polymarket, which allows users to bet on questions regarding the color of a celebrity’s tie or the eventual outcome of the bloody conflicts in the Middle East, is considered to be worth more than $20 billion in the wake of investments from Donald Trump’s son Don Jr. Kalshi, the main prediction market rival, just banned former congressman George Santos from its service after bet on himself to not attend the State of the Union address, then conveniently didn’t go.
The entire arc of the crypto currency wave is a stand-in for willingness to bet healthy investments on movements in value of speculative, non-existent “money.” But on a less-industrial scale, my phone keeps reminding me I can make money playing Solitaire and seems to ridicule those who turn away to do, well, more traditional kinds of work.
To be an “influencer” online now is a career choice, depending almost solely on the ability to make almost inane videos and collect a vast audience.
In our zeal to break away from confines of what had been seen as traditional work practices, we’re awash in gambling basically on anything and everything. It’s all happening virtually without any government regulation, and even when the regulations question arise, it is unclear whether it is the state or the federal government who seek controls over online markets that refuse to remain within localized borders. A case now moving to the Supreme Court will consider some of that debate.
New National Pastime?
Naturally, the perception that society is increasingly dependent on gambling and the pursuit of “easy money” reflects growing economic pressures, as well as changing technologies and personal psychological shifts. For certain, while the desire for quick wealth has always existed, modern digital platforms have made gambling and speculative trading highly accessible.
It seems quaint that states once had political debates about legalized lotteries on religious or moral grounds. Proponents had argued that localities could repair or provide air conditioning in school buildings, while opponents thundered about the slide into immorality.
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There is no economic tool measuring just how much a tight job market results in more people spending time earning money playing digital card games or betting on how many times Donald Trump will refer to “affordability” in a speech, but clearly there is some link there. Rising living costs, stagnant wages, and housing unaffordability push some individuals to view high-risk betting as their only viable path to financial freedom.
At the same time, the social media giants clearly glorify “overnight success” and massive payouts, creating a distorted reality that masks the far more common outcome of financial loss. Indeed, finance itself has been turned into a big game, with anger only when it appears that someone is unfairly using insider information to tilt expected results of increasing volatile assets like stocks in the news or cryptocurrencies.
Younger workers more adept at personal technology seem especially drawn to these non-traditional sources of revenue. There are personal freedom and flexibility issues about when and where to work, and technology has made it far easier to bypass traditional employment routes that are drying up in this economy. Multiple media articles have made clear that entry-level jobs are at a generational minimum.
Is There a Price?
Psychologists and economists note that the human brain is highly susceptible to intermittent rewards. The unpredictable nature of winning keeps people engaged even when the odds are heavily stacked against them.
Data consistently shows that most lose money over time. In societal terms, it means that these speculative systems redistribute wealth rather than create it.
Making “easy money” as a social media influencer still requires an average of 29 hours of content creation per week, but that is less than 50 or 80 hours that some jobs require. Brands seem eager to pay creators anywhere from $200 to thousands directly to feature products in a TikTok video, Instagram post, or YouTube video. Custom product links ShopMy or Amazon Influencer Program earn a commission when followers buy through those links, and influencers can sell their own products, of course. The reality is that being a successful influencer may not be “easy money,” at all, but an efficient redefinition of individual entrepreneurship. Managing an audience is a job, after all.
Prediction market owners say they are legal because they are considered “financial exchange services” rather than “gambling” outlets. Sportsbook is illegal in California, but legal in many other states. A recent case that came to light only because the better bragged about it online involved a bet being placed on an account from another state, an apparent violation of law that can bring fine or a bar on gambling from the faraway state.
We’re shrugging our collective shoulders about gambling. We certainly are showing little concern about regulation.
Nor amid our highfalutin talk about bringing back manufacturing and investing in high-skilled jobs in AI and other areas, there seems a distinct lack of talk about what the labor requirements of such a society.
For sure, it will not involve digital card playing or betting on the election.
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