Thread by @PaulDJohnston

I have a thought that the western world has Venture Capitalists because they didn't understand that economics got hacked...

By the board game Monopoly

Ironic really considering it started as a game created by a woman to teach people about how rent, taxation and privilege worked

Created by Elizabeth Magie it was called The Landlord's Game and was intended to show the economic consequences of economic privilege and land taxation

Fast forward to the 1930s and Monopoly became a game where the aim is to make all the money and make everyone else bankrupt

In fact, by the 1970s, the fiction was created that the game was made by a man called Charles Darrow and this was carried through in the game and in texts to the 21st century

Not only did we forget the origins, we even forgot the original creator was a woman #notSurprising

I remember playing Monopoly as a kid, and the only time I ever enjoyed playing it was when I won.

When I lost, it was a really awful game.

You don't always know you're going to lose, until you're committed though and that's usually quite a way into the game.

My kids played Monopoly yesterday, and they basically bickered the whole time

💵Nobody likes paying rent/taxes
💵Nobody likes going to jail
🏨Everyone likes building houses/hotels
💵Everyone likes collecting rent

Everybody wants to be their favourite character! (The dog)

Why would I want my kids to play a "game" where basically the aim is to make the other players "bankrupt"?

Think about it for a moment...

Yes, it's fun to play on a basic level, as there is turn taking, there's a superficial money management thing going on, but...

Monopoly is fundamentally about making as much money as possible and making everybody else bankrupt.

It's about being the only person left who can own the entire board.

What does that teach anybody?

And yes, it's "just a game" but have you ever read a business book where someone explains the economics of Monopoly, and which are the best colours to own?

I have.

Now I think about it, that's just awful.

While I think it's important to "win" and "lose" games, there are definitely better ways to do it. Especially for kids.

Maybe that's partly why we have a generation who see rent seeking as acceptable behaviour.

It's not all down to Monopoly, but it's indicative isn't it?

Anyway, rant over.

Don't play Monopoly. There are way better games to play than Monopoly.

Forbidden Island for one. It's a cooperative game, which means you all win or you all lose.

Or Pandemic.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_o…