America Is Rapidly Becoming 'Sin Nation'

Each and every sport, every game and match, every player, every team has Americans betting on them in some way. Whether it's betting on a player's performance, the outcome of a team's play, or some esoteric "prop bet," such as whether a player will get three hits in a baseball game or score a goal in hockey, America has become sports-betting-crazy.

It's not just sports. "Prediction markets" allow you to bet on absolutely anything. Would you like to bet if a particular nation is going to get hit with a terrorist attack in the next 30 days? How about predicting the end of the Iran War? Anything and everything is available for a wager on sites like Polymarket and Kalshi.

The handle from all betting sources is $166 billion. That's a 23% increase from 2024. From sports books alone, state coffers got $3.7 billion richer.

Ten years ago, the total legal sports betting handle in the entire United States was $4.5 billion.

At that time, legal sports betting was almost entirely restricted to Nevada due to the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 (PASPA), which was not overturned by the Supreme Court until 2018.

While legal betting was limited, it was estimated by organizations like the American Gaming Association that the illegal market (offshore sites and local bookies) handled between $150 billion and $500 billion annually during that era.

What happened? States, not wanting to raise income and other taxes and desperate for cash, saw the practical value in legalizing not just casinos, but also sports books. 

"More than half of American men ages 18-49 have an account with an online sportsbook, per a Siena poll out last month. 63% of bettors said they'd bet $100 or more in one day. 31% reported having someone express concern about their sports betting, up from 23% last year," reports Axios. "A UCLA study found bankruptcy rates and debt collection amounts rose in states that legalized sports betting — with young men in low-income areas hit hardest," claimed the website.

Gambling is considered a "vice." Whether or not it's a "sin" depends on the religious, ethical, or philosophical framework you believe in.

Gambling isn't the only "vice" that has exploded in popularity over the last decade. The use of very potent marijuana has exploded with the legalization of pot, and online porn continues to grow with the advent of AI and "deepfakes."

Axios:

Not long ago, you might've gone to jail for using pot, much less selling it. Now, it's legal for a vast swath of Americans and serves as a primary tax engine for nearly half the country.

Twenty-four states plus D.C. have legalized recreational marijuana, with 40 states allowing medical use.

The Trump administration ordered the reclassification of medical marijuana as a Schedule III drug last month, moving it from alongside heroin and ecstasy to the same category as steroids and ketamine.

States have collected nearly $25 billion in cannabis tax revenue since the first legal sales began in 2014, according to the Marijuana Policy Project — with 2024 alone setting a record at $4.4 billion. California topped $1 billion by itself.

After decades of relative neglect, the medical research community is finally giving the effects of weed on the human body a serious look. What they're finding is troubling.

New longitudinal studies suggest that daily users of weed may face a significantly higher risk of stroke and heart attack, regardless of whether they also use tobacco.

Research has identified a link between high-concentration THC and atrial fibrillation (an irregular, often rapid heart rate) in younger adults who otherwise have no underlying heart disease.

There has also been an explosion of Cannabis Use Disorder (CUD). Recent clinical reports show a rise in CUD, with a higher percentage of users requiring professional intervention to stop.

Also, extensive 2026 data confirm that frequent use of high-potency cannabis is associated with a three-to-five-fold increase in the risk of developing schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders, particularly in those with a genetic predisposition. 

Cannabinoid Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS) is sending a lot of kids to the emergency room.

As usage rates have climbed, so have diagnoses of CHS. This condition involves recurring episodes of severe nausea, vomiting, and abdominal pain. While marijuana is often used to treat nausea, CHS represents a shift where long-term overstimulation of the endocannabinoid system causes the opposite effect. And 2026 emergency room data shows a 15% year-over-year increase in CHS-related admissions in states with fully legalized recreational markets.

Online porn was already ubiquitous, but with the advent of AI-created "deepfakes," anyone can be stripped of their clothes (and dignity) and placed in an X-rated film. 

What adults do online isn't anyone's business. But the porn industry and Big Tech appear to be incapable of protecting children. "The average age of first exposure to online pornography is now 12, with 15% of kids first seeing it at 10 or younger, according to a Common Sense Media survey of 1,300+ teens." according to Axios.

Trump signed the "Take it down Act" last year, "criminalizing the posting of nonconsensual intimate images, including AI deepfakes," says Axios. But with 8 million deepfake images on the net, if someone is worried about their likeness being used, they would have to hunt for it, wading through thousands of images.  

This is what happens when all three of the tectonic shifts we've told you about — in governance, in the post-news era, in the age of AI — collide at once.

AI is supercharging the supply, creating deepfakes at a pace no law can match. Our shattered information ecosystem means there's no common authority left to set norms or apply social pressure. The government, rather than policing the line, has become the cashier.

Each shift alone would strain our culture. Together, they've created Sin Nation.

What's next: There's potential for political agreement that some portion of America's scaling of sin might have been too much, too fast.

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) posted on X in March: "Pervasive gambling is not good for society. It turns life into a casino, traps people in addiction & debt, surges domestic violence, and fosters manipulation."

Figures from varying corners of GOP ideology responded in agreement: Michael Knowles, Ann Coulter, Erick Erickson.

Could right and left find agreement on taming Sin Nation? It would take leadership and a massive grassroots effort, but it could be done.

Otherwise, the U.S. will continue to sink into the muck, going broke, getting high, and corrupting ourselves with porn.