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Article By: KalindaRoseStevenson,PhD
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Is The Monopoly Game Teaching You To Go Broke?
The fundamental belief behind Monopoly is lack of money. Since the money supply cannot increase, the players can win only by taking money from other players. The only way to get more money is to take it away from others. This means that Monopoly is a zero sum game based on competition.
This fundamental reality of Monopoly is that one player wins while the others lose. This reflects the experience of the Great Depression. Thousands stood in breadlines while a few people became very rich.
In the game of Monopoly, partnership is prohibited. Players cannot create joint ventures. Players cannot loan money to other players. Players cannot borrow money from other players.
As a result, Monopoly teaches you that you are on your own. Your goal is to force other players to go bankrupt. As a player, you learn that helping someone else might cause you to lose the game.
This game teaches that fierce competition is the only way to create wealth. This is the way the world is. You will succeed only at the expense of others.
Monopoly simply reinforces the fundamental belief that the road to success is paved with the bodies of your competitors. It is a belief that is deeply embedded in our consciousness about what it takes to make money and what it takes to succeed in business.
As a success model, what is the effect of a game based on competition for a limited money supply? You don't have to look any further than the statistic that 96% of the population will reach 65 without enough money to be financially self-sufficient. Instead of congratulating the 4% who somehow manage to create financial freedom for themselves in this economic system, you need to ask, "What is wrong with the game? Why do so many lose?"
The short answer is that many have to lose in order for a few to create wealth. The economic model of competition for limited resources demands that almost everyone must end the game broke for a few to become rich.
What is the result of following the Monopoly model to create wealth? You might be one of the few who wins. If you do, it will be a lonely struggle in a highly competitive game. It's more likely that you will be one of the losers who could not make enough money to succeed.
As a model for creating wealth, Monopoly is stuck in the mindset and money beliefs of the Great Depression. In the Monopoly game, the winner amasses money but does nothing to create money through transactions.
It's time for a new game with a new understanding of money. The fact is, you'll make more money in transactions than you will in takeovers. It's true that the business world is still full of people who treat business as a zero sum game. But the Great Depression ended more than sixty years ago. Mr. Monopoly had it wrong when he thought that winning meant driving competitors out of business.
In this era, the most enlightened business people understand that you will make more money in joint ventures with others than you will by competing against them. When you take off the Depression era Mr. Monopoly glasses, you can see a new vision of money and business. Money is not currency. Money is an idea, and the only limits to money are the limits of your vision.
Article Source: ArticleZones.com
About the Author
Kalinda Rose Stevenson, PhD. How would you like to know the money secrets investors use? Uncover the secrets in a real estate investing book about the world's most popular board game, Monopoly. www.NoMoneyLimits.com.