My father and the loan sharks

"THE MEN" forced my father's hand onto our store's butcher block, then one swung the meat cleaver down, burying it between his fingers into the well-seasoned maple wood. Again and again. I was 9 and terrified as one of the three men held me and made me watch my father shake and cry.

Entering my family's Italian delicatessen just at evening closing time, they made certain there were no customers and locked the door behind. They were Mafia, La Costra Nostra, or, as my grandmother called them, La Mano Nera. Except they weren't even a bit charming as Paulie or Christopher in "The Sopranos." Vicious, cold, and mean.

The guy who plucked me off the stool next to the cash register was a gargantuan man I knew as "Fats." He was a regular customer, but never paid for the prime meats he loaded into his Cadillac. A loan shark, all he cared about was collecting his money. While this incredible violence was being perpetrated on my dad, Fats held me by my head and pressed me so hard into his more than ample stomach, I could hardly hear his calm, low voice threatening my father if he did not pay. Then suddenly, they emptied the cash register and left.

My father, 37 at the time, told me never to speak of the incident, and until he died at 68, we never did. There were many such episodes.

My dad was a gambling addict. He owed money to bookies and loan sharks. And loan sharks to pay other loan sharks. As the "vig," or in genteel banking terms, "interest owed on principal borrowed," piled higher and higher, he tried to gamble his way out. Unlike banks, though, the vig was 5 percent per week. With many sharks and bookies owed, they ate virtually all of my family's income.

With an IQ of 160, Dad was clever and a brilliant oddsmaker -- but often the spiraling money beast would catch him and "the men" would come.

I wrote a bit about this subject on this page a few years ago and never thought I would write about it again. But recent moves by our elected officials and cities to introduce casinos compel me to offer a counter view.

I understand the arguments that other states are doing it and many of our residents are going to places like Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun. So why shouldn't Massachusetts open casinos and keep some of the profits in our home state? That strikes me a bit like one of my sons saying, "Joey can stay out late and he drinks and drives, so why can't I?"

I believe Deval Patrick, Tom Menino, Sal DiMasi, and Therese Murray are looking to do the right thing by our citizens. Build better roads, improve education, increase economic growth, etc. And they certainly need to fund these needs. I also believe entering into casino gambling is a slippery slope that does not serve the greater public interest or our long-term economic interests.

Not every person who uses slot machines, crap tables, or roulette wheels, or plays poker, keno, bingo, or baccarat will find organized-crime thugs on their doorsteps. Many, unfortunately, will. Worse, they will find something more treacherous and insidious than three guys with a meat cleaver. They will ruin their lives and the lives of their families.

Why? Frequency and ready access to gambling breeds gambling addicts.

If we have casinos, Massachusetts residents who can't afford to drive or stay overnight at casino hotels will use public transportation to gamble daily. Massachusetts residents who occasionally travel to Connecticut for "entertainment gambling" will now drive a few miles and gamble frequently. They will risk more and more because it is easy and convenient. The state will essentially become an "addict enabler."

And then it begins. A little at a time. Credit cards hit their maximums, school tuition payments are delayed, children are told they cannot afford a better college, refinanced and second mortgages increase family debts and often foreclosures. Increased stress about money shortages can cause domestic violence, divorces, and even suicide. Addicts steal from family members and friends. Lies and deceit become a way of life. And the victims are not just the gamblers, but everyone around them.

I know firsthand.

My father stole my grammar school bank account, forged my name on checks, and failed to pay income taxes. He borrowed and never paid back money to my best friends by telling them I was ill and he needed money for doctors -- resulting in my losing my closest boyhood friends. He secretly pleaded with my future fiance's parents for my college tuition fees, which he used for his own purposes. When he did not pay them back, my future in-laws placed a legal attachment on our store and residence, which made them 27th in the lien line. Not to mention making it an awkward wedding day.

While many people gamble for entertainment reasons and can contain themselves, there is an alarming number who are on destructive paths. A 1997 Harvard Medical School study stated that more than 15 million adult and adolescent Americans were "problem or pathological gamblers." A 2004 Creighton University study found bankruptcy rates increased 10 percent among people living near casinos.

It stands to reason these numbers are higher today, based on the fact there has been an explosion of new casinos across many states.

Then there is the argument that people are going to gamble anyway, so why shouldn't we "get our piece?" If one follows that logic and ignores the hidden costs associated with disrupted families, financial ruin, and psychological devastation, we may as well apply that same theory to other addictions. For example, people use cocaine for "recreational purposes." If the government sponsored cocaine use, the profit margins would be much higher than casinos. Plus, we would not have to share the upside with the Indians or the Las Vegas organizers who run these casinos.

Same social and financial ills -- just different addicts.

Then there is the "we need the money" argument. Massachusetts has considerable sales taxes and income taxes. We have skyrocketing property taxes. Most interestingly, we arguably have the most successful lottery system in the country. In 2006, Massachusetts lottery revenue was over $4.5 billion with a $951 million profit. On a per capita basis, our lottery is more profitable than virtually any in the country.

With all of our revenue systems, do we really need to introduce casinos and eventually pay the hidden financial and social costs that will be created? I thought government existed to help citizens have better lives for themselves and generations to come. Now this decision is in the hands of that government.

I have faith in Deval Patrick. While untested, he strikes me as a man of courage.

He won the governorship based on a slogan "Together We Can."

Does that mean: Together We Can prey on the weak and vulnerable, destroy more families, mortgage our future, and sell out to the special-interest profiteers? Or does it mean: Together We Can follow Massachusetts's tradition of being a caring, unique, and independent community that doesn't solve its problems by following the easiest path?

We will soon see what the slogan stands for.

David D'Alessandro is former CEO of John Hancock Financial Services.