Monopoly Is The Worst

There are few board games I enjoy playing less than Monopoly. During the handful of times I have forced myself to endure an entire game, it usually proceeds like this: I go about my merry little Monopoly life, earning paper money, buying a property here and there, letting other people pay me rent from time to time, getting money for passing Go, and occasionally winning some extra money by landing on Free Parking. Of course Monopoly life has its setbacks-- the occasional trip to jail, paying extra taxes because you drew a bad Chance card, or paying another player rent when you land on their property. But all in all, it's not so bad at first. All the players get along, everyone makes money, and Monopoly life carries on in relative peace and happiness.

Then someone-- usually my brother or another savvy male player-- manages to trick me into allowing them to obtain a monopoly. They sweeten the deal by trading me some worthless property or by giving me cash, but they assure me it is for my benefit. The next thing I know, I'm broke, stuck in jail, and forced to watch while the other player gleefully purchases the entire board, builds hotels everywhere, and then laughs hysterically while the rest of us go bankrupt. And then Monopoly life as I knew it is over; one person wins everything, and all the other players lose everything. I do not understand how this game is ever supposed to be enjoyable.

As much as I hate the game, apparently you can learn a lot from Monopoly. Sometimes, you can even watch it be played out in real life. These days, all you have to do is glance at the headlines. Not too long ago, saying our economy was headed for financial disaster was considered doomsdayish. Now that the state of our economy is a little more socially acceptable to speak of, I feel a little freed up to share my opinions on the matter. :)

I personally think that massive government "bailouts" (purchases) that rival the likes of interventions made during the Great Depression are like putting a band-aid over a hemorrhaging wound. It remedies the situation only temporarily, and it does absolutely nothing to alleviate the real problem... which in this case is massive inflation, a toxic subprime mortgage industry, record-breaking debt at both consumer and national levels, and an ever-weakening dollar. Bailing out giant financial corporations with Monopoly money (literally... the dollar is backed by nothing but thin air) and passing the $1 trillion bill down to the consumer in the form of higher taxes will do little to cure the ailing economy. These days, the average family can barely afford to buy food and gas after they have paid their mortgages and monthly bills, much less cover the bill for a desperate corporate bailout. Why should the poor have to bail out the rich?

What we have here is a life-sized game of Monopoly: the savvy Feds are purchasing "properties" right and left while the rest of the country wallows in debt, high taxes, and an inflated dollar. In terms of Monopoly, the rest of the country is still broke, stuck in jail, and waiting to be bailed out. The more the Feds own as a result of their bailouts, the closer they come to owning a Monopoly and the closer free capitalism comes to its death. They already own the majority of American mortgages and they are well on their way to owning most of the financial giants in the country (Countrywide, Bear Sterns, Lehman Brothers, AIG, etc etc have all been bailed out with more coming soon to a headline near you).

It does you little good to have a Get Out of Jail Free card if you step out into your freedom to find that you don't really own anything anymore, you have no borrowing or trading power, capitalism is dwindling away, and you can't buy much with what little money you have. Now, I'm not saying that the goverment will gleefully wreak havoc once it owns a Monopoly; however, the idea of that much "property" and power being in the hands of a single entity is rather disconcerting to me. The entire purpose of free capitalism is to spread the wealth into the hands of the American people, to ensure a free market, to check and balance the economy, and to check and balance the power of the big players. Instead, debt is being spread to the American consumers, free market principles are being violated, the economy is hanging by a thread, and the big players are getting bailed out.

Usually by this point in Monopoly, when I am irritated that my brother is winning and I am losing, I look on the bright side: the insufferable game is almost over. In real life, I'm still frustrated that my Big Brother isn't exactly doing me any favors, but I look on the bright side: he just bought me some time. (Well, I just bought myself some time, since I am a taxpayer.) Instead of complete economic collapse, the Feds have bailed us out yet again with a Get Out of Jail Free card. It is what we do as we step outside into our freedom that is crucial. We have been given another chance to get our finances in order and to prepare ourselves in every way to be self-sufficient. There may not be a band-aid big enough to contain the hemorrhage, but sometimes a blood transfusion and some thick bandages can do the trick for a while as you try to stop the bleeding.

I'm trying to stay positive and to focus on creating a future of wealth and abundance for myself and my family. I've been given more time to prepare, and I'll take it. I will do what I can.

What do you think? What are your opinions?