The most unfair game

The most unfair game you will ever play:

Think of this world, the monetary system, as a Monopoly game.

Alex wakes up in the morning.

He hears a lot of noise coming from the living room.

He doesn’t know what is happening.

He goes into the living room and there are many people playing Monopoly on a big table. There they are: Alex’s family, friends, relatives, and some people that he doesn’t know.

Alex smiles and sits at the table. He watches for a while how they play and then one guy says to him “Roll the dices kid, it’s your turn! Here, this is your board’s piece and take $100. Go on, roll the dices now!”

Alex feels excited and does as is told.

“It’s a 7!” Says one of his friends.

Alex moves his monopoly piece and his friend says : “That’s my property! You have to pay me $20.”

Alex feels a bit uncomfortable about that, but it is the start of the game, so he accepts and pay. He only has $80 now. When Alex has to take his salary, he realizes that his is way less than of the other ones. He starts to lose his enthusiasm about the game.

The game goes on and Alex jumps from property to property, paying almost all of his money to the others.

Alex: “Hold on! I don’t think it’s fair! When I came to the game, everything was bought. Every single property, every single house or hotel that you have on your properties was there….What is the point for me to play the game if everything is bought and I don’t even have money to buy anything even if there were available properties?”

“These are the rules son.” – Says one of his parents. “Go on, play more, it will be better!”

Alex doubt this, but continues to play.

Alex’s friends are much better off than him. They have many properties, hotels and houses. Alex ask one of his friends how is it that he has so many things because he wasn’t playing for longer than him. He says that those are his parent’s properties and he can own them because of that.

“You see, your parents have no property. They don’t play well at all son.” says the father of his friend, with a slightly arrogant smile on his face.

Alex: “I don’t think it’s fair at all…”

 

One of Alex’s relatives is in ‘jail’ but he is happy about that “I stay here and make money” he says. “I have no worries that I have to pay anything to anyone, no worries at all. Sometimes is better in jail than out.”

Alex’s parents encourage him to strive more because by doing that he will succeed eventually. He tries, but nothing really changes.

Alex’s parents leave the game. They leave him with a bank debt that he has to carry on with him for the rest of the game. Now things are even worst for Alex.

The game becomes no fun at all. Alex spins his monopoly piece around that game board, round and round, rolling the dices, paying to others for stuff that they own, getting an unfair payment from time to time….

“Where is the fun?” he says.

“I see you guys competing with each other, selling and buying properties, adding houses and hotels, fanatically calculating your ‘wealth’….but where is the fun in all this? Aren’t you tired? Bored?”

“You are bored because you are losing, don’t you see?” – People at the table making fun of the kid.

“You don’t seem happy at all either, you seem to just play and not be able to stop.” says Alex to them. “And yea, I am losing as you can see, but I came here to play a game, to enjoy it, not necessarily to win it. And you already had the rules in place, you already had most of the board bought, and you even pay me way less than the other players. Of course I am losing.”

“You should take a loan” – People are saying.

“No, I will end up like my parents, losing even quicker. And more than that, I do not want to play anymore. It is not even a game anymore, it is madness. I am off!”

Some guy at the table grabs the kids arm “Not so fast kid! You cannot leave when you want to leave. You leave when we say!”

Alex: “What?! Are you kidding me? What is this, Monopoly Mafia? Let go of my arm!”

A lady at the table: “Darling, let him go. He is free to go, but he won’t get any food or any place to sleep if he leaves the table. You are free to go hunny.”

Alex: “Are you guys insane? What is wrong with you? This is just a damn game! Don’t you see? I think you have played it for so long that you took it seriously. You see all those houses and hotels, all those properties and money, all those shiny pieces you move around the board? They are not real guys! Wake up!”

People at the table: “What are you, a philosoph kid? If you don’t want to play, don’t play. But as we said, there will be consequences for that. We aren’t the ones making the rules, you know. These are the rules of the game. It is what it is.”

“I would help if I could Alex….” says one of Alex’s relatives.

Alex: “Oh my God guys….you really are taking this seriously….aren’t you?!”

 

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What would you say if this happened in real life in a game of Monopoly? Completely ridiculous and crazy, right?

Imagine someone telling you: Come on and play Monopoly with us. But keep in mind, most of the properties are already bought; many properties already have houses and hotels and we will tax you a lot if you end up on them; you get paid less than we do; some of us can change the rules of the game; and if you leave the game or you don’t want to play, we will deprive you of food and shelter, and of any basic needs, in your real life of course. Be aware that even if you play well enough, it can become a bit crazy: you will be obsessed with acquiring more wealth and be more competitive, and many times you will feel that it is never enough for you. A, and we will choose your Monopoly piece. Come and play with us! 🙂

Doesn’t it sound like Hitler just invited you to play Monopoly with him?

Will you play? I am sure not. But you are already playing this game, don’t you see?

 

You are born in a world where people are already owning almost all of it: hills, beaches, hotels, houses, pools, bikes, cars, clothes, food, gadgets, even animals or anything you might imagine.

Your wealth will depend on your family’s wealth most of the times. You will get an unfair payment that does not reflect your efforts. There are tons of rules out there, most of which you are not aware of, and many people in this world can bend or remove/create new rules that will have an impact upon your life.

Your ‘monopoly piece’ is choose by others in the form of culture (what language you will learn, customs and traditions, religion, etc). People are very competitive in this world and want to take advantage of anyone (including yourself) — many of which feel that it is never enough wealth, and with a compulsive drive they want more and more –. Even the idea of being in jail and making money is something depicted from the real life. Many people in jail live better than poor people.

And most awful of all, if you choose not to play this real life monetary game, then you will not be able to purchase food, purchase your right to medical treatment, or to any of your needs. You can literally die if you do not play. Actually this happens with so many today.

A, and all of the people will tell you that you are not forced to play the game. And most of these people (players) do not even realize that it is just a game.

It is already happening yet you might not notice because you are part of it.

 

Please consider again if you would play a game that it is as rigged and coercive as the world we live in is. I bet none of you would resist 5 minutes playing it.

I think it is time for people to realize that and stop playing this crazy game, and instead focus on what is real: what we want as a species relative to our place on this sphere we call Earth.

In the end, it all goes back in the box: