2012 could be, if millions of people are correct, humanities last year on earth. Whether it’s a collision with Planet X, a perfect solar storm that destroys all our electric gadgets or the end of the Mayan calendar, we will all have to suffer through the dooms day predictions on a weekly basis. With an over-load of apocalyptic scenarios to add to the stress of daily life we asked ourselves, how will Las Vegas Nevada fare when millions of gamblers start playing like there’s no tomorrow?
Las Vegas, or “Sin City” as it’s become known, is the adult entertainment capital of the United States if not the world. From its humble beginnings as a crossroads for pioneers and explorers who were headed west to make their fortune, it has grown into the lush oasis it is today. Various enterprises contributed to the rise of Vegas, such as the Hoover Dam and the Railroad, but none had a more profound impact on what would shape the city than legalized gambling.
Bugsy Siegel is long credited with being the intellectual architect of Las Vegas. With his connections to the mob he convinced many of his counter parts to invest in his dream of transforming the desert into a playboy’s paradise. For years the mafia flourished in the Nevada desert, however, the house they built would not stand the test of time. Decades after Bugsy was gunned down in his home the mafia built casinos were eventually torn down as well, to make way for the new Vegas.
Enter the corporations, slick marketing coupled with a Disney like, theme park business model which replaced the nostalgic hotels with modern day monoliths to the almighty dollar. Vegas was now packaged as a true slice of the American dream and you had a patriotic duty to go there and gamble the mortgage money or the kid’s college fund. The shows became spectacular extravaganzas featuring “A” list celebrities in every venue.
So here we are in 2012, 81 years after Las Vegas first legalized gambling it continues to attract in excess of 36 million visitors annually. Although the casinos are luxurious palaces from the outside, on the inside they are cookie cutters of each other, crammed with row after row of one armed bandits. As I breathe in the highly oxygenated air I wonder to myself how many more millions will come to play in their supposed “last year on earth”. What kind of unprecedented chaos will be unleashed on the casinos when the players play like there is no tomorrow?
