Quote:
Originally Posted by ZBTHorton
The obvious problem with this concept is that anyone who has ever welched on a bet or bet over their limits or screwed people out of money or whatever else you want to accuse someone can never be a douchebag because it's likely all of them have some kind of mental issue because normal people don't do things like that. It doesn't even have to be gambling.
TBH Erick making sports bets isn't really an issue with me. Lots of people do it. My issue is that he had 250K / month coming in to pay off his debts and he never did it. In the interview he even admits that he owed 6M for almost a decade and owes 3M now.
I agree when you say that having mental issues (such as a gambling problem) does not automatically absolve a person of their sins. But I think these things have to be looked at in context - it is clear that Lindgren has been in serious debt for a long time but it looks quite likely to me that a big part of what caused him to get into this debt, and his failure to pay it off, is related to a gambling addiction.
If he had been making bets with the intention to scam people, knowing he would never pay out if he lost, then the word "scumbag" might be more appropriate. As it stands, it looks like he got himself in a huge hole and was trying to gamble his way out of it - I think the description of "addicted, deluded and weak" would be a far better description. But really, nobody knows the motivations of Lindgren, other than Lindgren himself.
I think the other thread about the character who was accidently transferred a large sum of money and refused to pay it back due to not being "legally obliged" seems far more worthy of the description "scumbag". But without knowing the full context who are we all to judge these things?