• @disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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    257 months ago

    NPR has a great piece on the origin of Monopoly.

    Monopoly was designed by a socialist to demonstrate that capitalism is flawed, since the game eventually ends with all of the wealth in one player’s possession. Interestingly, the creator also included an alternative “Prosperity” rule, where all players received payment from a property purchase. All of this was omitted and replaced with the notion that “anyone can be rich” in capitalism when pitched to Parker Brothers.

    • nocturne
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      207 months ago

      And Monopoly is based on The Landlord’s Game, which was created to be a “practical demonstration of the present system of land grabbing with all its usual outcomes and consequences”.

      Designed by Elizabeth Magie between 1902 and 1903. She based the game on the economic principles of Georgism, a system proposed by Henry George, with the object of demonstrating how rents enrich property owners and impoverish tenants.

      • @disguy_ovahea@lemmy.world
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        57 months ago

        Exactly! I couldn’t remember, and you’re absolutely right. The “Prosperity” version of the rules was based on Georgism.