![]() ![]() According to a 2013 panel discussion at Stanford University’s Graduate School of Education, games are uniquely beneficial in supporting learning. ![]() This is especially disappointing considering that, in using a game as an educational tool, Magie was onto something big. And although these are certainly useful functions, they pale in comparison to what could have been learned from the game. It seems as though today’s Monopoly cannot do more than simply distract and entertain. Monopoly as it exists today cannot adequately teach people the cooperative values that Magie championed as players delight in bankrupting each other without reflecting on the alternative value of cooperation. Players of the new version are not encouraged to be critical when they play within a set of rules that reinforces, rather than reimagines, the status quo. It no longer provided a contrast between two economic systems. Without the Prosperity rules, Magie’s educational tool became simply a game. Both the game and Darrow exploded in popularity, while Magie and her message faded into obscurity. Darrow rebranded it as “Monopoly” and chose to exclusively include the Monopolist set of rules. In the early 1930s, Charles Darrow came across one of these adaptations and later sold it to the Parker Brothers. Her game became extremely popular among left-wing intellectuals and Quaker communities, who adapted some of the rules and included street names on the board. A stenographer and typist by day, Magie often taught her political progressive views after work, and wanted to create a board game to do this in a more interactive way. She designed the “Landlord’s Game” (which would one day become “Monopoly”) to be a practical demonstration of the value of his ideas. ![]() So how does George’s single tax theory relate to Monopoly? Well, as a political progressive of her day, Elizabeth Magie was a staunch Georgist. In his mind, the high revenue from this single tax on rent would be invested in the community, so that everyone would prosper and landowners would be incentivized to use the land in a responsible way. ![]() George therefore proposed that the state tax away all economic rent and abolish other taxes. He thought it was unfair that wealthy landowners profited off property rent, even though most of the land’s value didn’t actually come from the properties. To understand what she means by this, we need to back up for a second and learn about something called the single tax theory, which political economist Henry George outlined in his 1879 book, “Progress and Poverty.” George believed that people should only own what they have created, and that land should belong to everyone. Magie included both sets of rules to create a “practical demonstration of the present system of land grabbing with all its usual outcomes and consequences.” This meant showcasing the difference in social outcomes depending on society’s approach to property ownership. The game ended when the player who started with the smallest amount of money had doubled their wealth, and in this version, everyone wins the game as a result. Under the Prosperity rules, every player would receive money when one player acquired a property, much like a property tax. In its initial form, the “Landlord’s Game” included two sets of rules: The Monopolist rules, which resemble the current game, and the Prosperity rules. Though Monopoly in its current form emerged in 1935 and has been attributed to Charles Darrow, it was really created in 1903 by a progressive activist named Elizabeth Magie. However, this wasn’t always the sole objective of the game. The objective of Monopoly is to buy properties and bankrupt all the other players on the board. The History of MonopolyĪs possibly the most popular board game in the world, the rules of Monopoly are familiar to most. Ultimately, I believe that the board game’s original education value, while altered, isn’t quite lost. Though transformations to the game have subverted its original educational aim, I still feel that I am learning something when I play Monopoly. It was originally intended to be a creative and interactive way to teach people progressive political values. Through one of these searches, I learned that Monopoly didn’t start out as the family fun game I’ve only recently grown to love. All the talk about money and real estate went right over my head and lasted for what felt like an interminably long time.īut playing with my family recently has inspired a new appreciation for the game, so much so that I’ve started to Google “Monopoly” when I get bored. This came as a surprise because I was never the game’s biggest fan as a child. My family is no exception, and in the quest for something to do, we’ve discovered that our favorite game to play together is Monopoly. Quarantine has us all dusting off some old pastimes. ![]()
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