Global Monopoly Game

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The board game Monopoly was invented during the Great Depression of the 1930's and was an immediate success. The game is based on the working principles of capitalism. With large sectors of the population unemployed, it gave people an opportunity to play at the system from which they were excluded in real life.

Widespread familiarity with Monopoly makes it an excellent reference for understanding a key element of the modern crisis. Almost everyone knows that once one player gets ahead in the game, there is little chance of catching up. It can take many hours of play before a winner begins to emerge, and some time after that before it becomes certain that he or she will win. When it does become obvious, however, most games are conceded because nothing can change the outcome. According to the rules, though, the game is not over until the losers have mortgaged and lost all of the properties they gained during the earlier stages. The end is not official until the winner has it all.

We are entering the mopping-up stage of a Global Monopoly Game. The winners are obvious. For most of humanity there is little chance of catching up.

Unfortunately, unlike the board game, the winners of the Global game seem unwilling to accept congratulations and allow another game to begin. A player forced out of the board game can go to the refrigerator and make a sandwich or partake in some other distraction while the game is played out; the losers of the Global game have no where to turn.

If the winners of the Global Monopoly Game refuse to accept their success and help forge a new game that everyone can play, social disruption will grow to destabilizing proportions.