Dialectic Relation of the Gaming Capitalism Development

• Main Authors: Chen, Chun-Hsuan, 陳俊玄
• Other Authors: Wang, Chun-Chi
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/8vfn27

博士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 體育學系 === 97 === Abstract Gaming capitalism has developed an explosive expansion around the globe. In Taiwan, after the issuance of the Public Welfare Lottery and Taiwan Sports Lottery, discussion on gaming has become a media frenzy that cannot be neglected. Furthermore, the state apparatus has a significant position in the development of Taiwan’s lottery game. Through the broadcast and publicity of the media, consumers’ consciousness in purchasing lottery tickets is even more enhanced, and so the power of culture and capital is generated from this capitalism establishment. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to understand the cultural pattern of Taiwan’s gaming capitalism from three dimensions, which are ideology, cultural code and capital, as it developed over time. The research method applied in this study is based on the norm of the sociology of leisure and cultural reproduction to conduct a systematic analysis. The research results are presented in four dimensions: 二、 Dialectic relation of gaming ideology: (1) The ideology of Patriotic Lottery presents four dialectic consciousness, which are “Anti-communism/Country first”, “Revive Chinese culture/Construct Taiwanese culture”, “Promote moral ethics/Enhance Confucian spirit”, and “Social multifaceted style”. (2) The ideology of Public Welfare Lottery presents the dialectic relation of “Strong capital/Weak public welfare”, and “Government raking in profits/Social welfare being misappropriated”. (3) The ideology of Taiwan Sports Lottery presents the dialectic relation of “Strong gaming/Week sports”, and “National capital distribution oriented/Sports oriented”. (4) The ideology of casino gambling presents the dialectic relation of “Gaming is to revive a nation/Gaming is to construct a nation”. 2. The dialectic relation of gaming ad/billboard code: (1) “Gambling impression” applies mass media to shape the image of game heroes and game shows to successfully convert it into “gambling image”. (2) The TV ads of Public Welfare Lottery/Taiwan Sports Lottery present the cultural dialectic relation of “capitalism”, “classicism”, “materialized female image”, “male hegemony”, “material landscape”, “technological culture”, and “sports culture”. (3) The billboards and posters of Patriotic Lottery/Public Welfare Lottery/Taiwan Sports Lottery present the cultural dialectic relation of “patriotic ideology”, “Chinese culture”, “capitalism”, “doing good for public benefit”, and “sports culture”. 3. The dialectic relation of gaming capital accumulation: (1) Political capital: Presents the dialectic relationship between politician’s stage performance and capital accumulation of political calculation. (2) Economic capital: “The state”, “banks and financial groups” and “first prize winners” accumulate flourishing economic capital while middle and lower level lottery bidders are the victims most hurt. (3) Social capital: The accumulation of social capital is first established in the trust and connection of “the structure of issuing institution”; the second accumulation comes from the establishment of the social umbilical code of internal/external collective struggle and connection of the “minority group/sports group” and capital. And lastly the surplus of Public Welfare Lottery has become a significant accumulation tool of social capital for government officials of all cities and counties. (4) Cultural capital: It is established in the dialectic relationship between the gaming cultural capital with a capital pattern of “gaming culture property” through government hosted “transformed gaming” and the “virtual cultural capital” created by the mass media. 4. In the future, Taiwan’s gaming capitalism may face challenges from three dimensions: “the fact and challenge of global game explosion”, “the expansion of anti-casino groups in Taiwan and their discussions”, and “the economic (industry) and social (crimes) challenges coming after the establishment and development of special gaming zones”. Viewing this, Taiwan government authorities must respond by promoting the competitive power of Taiwan’s gaming casinos which must be administered under the concept of “government supervision” and “free economy”. The government should also actively develop gambling related knowledge and economic plan, and set up cultivation institutes for gambling management. Based on the above results, this paper concludes that the development of Taiwan’s gaming capitalism is established based on the class relation between the “selling party” dominated by the state and the “buying party” of Taiwan’s general public. The establishment of such gaming class relation is operated through the power distribution and control of gaming laws and regulations that the state orchestrates to consolidate the class notion of gaming and national ideology. From the viewpoints of semiology and political communication study, the gaming cultural code in Taiwan presents itself in the symbols of nation, capital, public welfare and sports. The accumulation of capital will eventually make its way to the establishment of political capital of the state/politicians, economic capital of the state/issuing bank/first prize winners, social capital of unity and trust of the nation/people and sports/social welfare groups, and cultural capital of the entire gaming/gambling culture. The future development of the Patriotic Lottery, Public Welfare Lottery, Taiwan Sports Lottery and gaming casinos will still follow the route of nationalization, capitalization and media oriented.