Facts, myths and fake news

Reality is a lot more surreal than we care to admit

- Donovan E Williams

For over half a century, Monopoly was regarded as one of the world's most popular family board-games.

Many have experiences where the quiet cousin or even our mild-mannered caring Mom, suddenly becomes this arch-villain that is cruel and hyper-exploitative. Many games of Monopoly ended when one of the gamers flipped the board over in anger, because they just did not have enough money to pay off their debts or retain their property. The Monopoly board game became the standard-bearer of capitalist and liberal values, that humankind was essentially selfish and given half the chance, regardless who is suffering they will be greedy and focus on just making money.

The game was known to be owned by the Parker Brothers, and later Hasbro. Parker Brothers bought the game from Charles Darrow, who was an unemployed heating salesman. Darrow became very rich through the sale of the game and its subsequent royalties. His rags-to-riches story resonated with the United States of America's (USA) promotion of capitalism and that anyone can become rich, just through hard work and talent.

But it was not Darrow who invented Monopoly; it was a woman, Elizabeth Magie. Importantly, Magie invented it not to promote capitalist values, but rather to educate people on the dangers and cruelty of laissez-faire (unregulated) capitalism. Magie herself was a formidable woman. She was a committed feminist and subscriber to the teachings of progressive economist Henry George, who argued for a single tax, especially property tax.

Monopoly is a prime example of a myth being deliberately cultivated to promote values that were on the opposite side of the spectrum for what the game was originally all about. Think about it, the popular history of a central cultural icon of capitalism, such as Monopoly, is so distorted and warped, that its inventor is hardly known and it is used for the opposite of what it was created for.