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It might be hard to find a former coal industry executive fighting for tough climate laws. The same holds true for former bosses in the alcohol and tobacco industries who regret making money off those vices and want to make amends. Not so in the gambling industry.

In recent weeks, three men who helped build the world鈥檚 biggest sports betting company have launched an unusual campaign. They are warning investors of 鈥渢he risk of acute social harm鈥� in supporting today鈥檚 more addictive forms of gambling.

Their personal remorse is being turned into public remedy.

All three businessmen, Stewart Kenny, Fintan Drury, and Ian Armitage, were instrumental in the rise of Paddy Power, an Irish bookmaker that is now part of Flutter Entertainment, a global operator. Their new organization, Stop Gambling Harm, comes out of moral misgivings over not foreseeing how online and mobile betting activities have come 鈥渁t a great cost to the most vulnerable in society.鈥�

鈥淭he internet was the explosion,鈥� Mr. Kenny told RT脡 News. 鈥淚n fairness to the industry, we didn鈥檛 realize how much it would take over people鈥檚 lives.鈥�

The three believe society will soon turn on the industry, piling up class-action lawsuits as new technologies help lower the resistance and the barriers for those with addictive behaviors. In the coming year, they hope to convince investors in Ireland and the United Kingdom that the industry must get ahead of society, taking less profit by instituting such reforms as mandatory spending limits for those under 25 years old.

They are targeting investors because they have learned from the inside that both industry executives and government find it all too attractive to maximize revenue from gambling, either in profits or in taxes. 鈥淵ou could argue the government is as addicted to tax revenue as the unfortunate聽gambling聽addicts are to online slots,鈥� Mr. Kenny told the Racing Post.

A rise in gambling addiction 鈥� especially during the isolation of COVID-19 鈥� could overload mental health services, Mr. Kenny warns. Now a therapist, he says many people who have suffered from gambling聽addiction encouraged him to speak out.

鈥淭he industry of which I was part for decades has for far too long hoped for a 鈥榤agic wand鈥� solution that would curb聽gambling聽addiction without affecting profits,鈥� he wrote in the聽 Daily Mail.聽

It is worth noting that the three businessmen relied on talent, hard work, and teamwork for success in their profession. They now want to help those who fall for the false promise of聽luck as a force in life. A study last year by the University of Oxford found a half-million people in the U.K. spend 40% of their disposable income on gambling.

Simply nudging the industry toward more reforms that help problem gamblers, however, may not be enough. The pervasive concept of chance must be addressed.

In a 2020 book, 鈥淭he Myth of Luck,鈥� philosopher Steven D. Hales of Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania writes: 鈥淲e cannot master luck because there is literally nothing to defeat. We will see that luck is no more than a persistent and troubling illusion.

鈥淐leaning our mental house of dusty old concepts that we鈥檙e hanging onto because we keep hoping that they will one day be useful 鈥� that is liberating. To give up luck is to regain our own agency in the world.鈥�

To be sure, moral remorse over one鈥檚 past in gambling promotion can bring practical benefits.

Yet spiritual liberation from a notion of luck would have lasting impact.