I am old enough to remember cigarette ads which celebrated the Total Awesomeness of Smoking. We've had commercials encouraging the overconsumption of sugar, grease and starch for more than seventy years now and they've only gotten worse as the ultra-processed non-food we are pushed to eat has just become more ultra-processed and addictive.
And in the last decade, media has become absolutely inundated with Gambling Is Harmless Fun ads designed to convince us that one particular addiction is no more dangerous than caffeine and maybe even less dangerous than that other addiction that drives us to impulse shop or get every other meal from Taco Bell (I might lose the rent money on a botched field goal attempt, but at least it won't give me diabetes!) There isn't a pregame show for any sporting event that isn't heavily subsidized by one gambling app or another, and there doesn't seem to be a single figure in media who isn't willing to sell his soul face and public image to pitch this destructive nonsense.
The silver lining is that when the number of gambling addicts reaches eight digits- which should happen sometime this year- it should have a significant, beneficial impact on inflation as the amount of money in circulation dries up dramatically. Sure, I'll have to step over the bodies of financially broken gamblers to enter the store, but at least they'll have contributed toward Making Eggs Affordable Again.
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