monopoly: a lesson in...socialism?

last christmas, La Taureau purchased for me a beautiful game of monopoly. and when i say "beautiful", i do quite mean it. it is a limited edition version of the game, complete in a wood case, and retro looking pieces and cards. that evening, being the shrewd property investor, she beat the pants off me.

yesterday afternoon, La Taureau and i went to my parent's house under the promise of bringing our monopoly game for an afternoon of cut-throat capitalistic mayhem. my elder brother, three of my nephews, and i settled in for a monetary bout that only an unbridled free-market land-grab can guarantee.

my nephews, being young and foolish, purchased properties with greed-feuled abandoned, leaving themselves high and dry when the rent came due on preowned properties they landed upon. it was about this time that the whole concept of this game began to break down. monopoly is supposed to be the poster-child for capitalistic thought. grab up as much property as you can, and become the winner when all the other players go bankrupt. but there's nothing "free" about this market. first of all, the rent is set on the card of the property in question, dictated by "the powers that be" (i.e. parker brothers). the salary, $200 each time you pass "go", is also set in place by "the powers that be", and not subject to raises. some people unfortunate enough to land on the income tax space, must pay up. if you don't land there, you don't pay. and if you land on the "go to jail" you are hauled off to the pokey without the benefit of a trial or even habeas corpus. in more recent versions of the game, there is a limited amount of houses, which means for some, the american dream of 40 acres and a mule, according to the game of monopoly, doesn't include shelter. if you want to sell a property, then, and only then, do you get to dictate on your own terms, and enter the world of shady, convoluted deals; in other words, the black market.

my elder brother ended up winning the game, with veritable estates sprinkled about the board, inhabited by hotels and multiple houses. most of these properties were acquired from my nephews who grew increasingly desparate with their dwindling resources, and continued to be drawn in by the lure of easy cash, if not completely exploited by whipsaw of doubled rent on properties they owned just a few minutes before. so my brother ended up with their properties AND their money.

at least he didn't offer bailouts for their failed landed enterprises.....