Forget Video Games... Look At The Evil Influence Of The Board Game Monopoly

from the i-mean...-seriously... dept

While hardly a month goes by without yet another indignant opinion piece arguing about how video games are corrupting our youth, it seems that some are now exploring the moral panics around other sorts of children's entertainment. Jedipunk points us to a brilliant tongue-in-cheek parody of all those anti-video game "think of the children" stories... but applying the same logic to the board game Monopoly.
For all the modern angst about violent computer games, this innocent-looking board game has probably had a more corrosive influence on western morals. For starters, Monopoly brazenly encourages players to plunder their savings and put every last penny into property.... Most pernicious of all Monopoly's venal influences, however, is surely the Community Chest card that says, "Bank error in your favour, collect £200." There's no suggestion you should alert the bank to its mistake when you can buy a couple more houses and profit by some idjit's error.
Indeed. Alert the politicians!
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Filed Under: monopoly, moral panic, think of the children


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  1. identicon
    :Lobo Santo, 23 Apr 2009 @ 10:02am

    Bank Error

    Last time the bank gave me an extra $200, I kept it.

    They were all like "Give it back!"

    I was all like "No!"

    And then, they blacklisted me and I couldn't get a new checking account for like 5 years.

    I now blame Monopoly. ;P

    link to this | view in thread ]

  2. icon
    chris (profile), 23 Apr 2009 @ 10:24am

    rolling doubles

    my cousin rey-rey has been trying to get out of jail for years by rolling doubles. it doesn't work.

    thanks a lot monopoly for destroying our family.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  3. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 23 Apr 2009 @ 10:35am

    Why are blog posts here apparently embargoed for nearly four hours? Reloading the front page a few times eventually showed up a "new" post -- timestamped nearly four hours before the reload BEFORE the one on which it showed up.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  4. identicon
    Tgeigs, 23 Apr 2009 @ 10:41am

    Psshh

    Plus, in what city do you EVER get "Free Parking"? Talk about setting an entire generation up for massive disappointment.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  5. identicon
    R. Miles, 23 Apr 2009 @ 10:42am

    Heh. That's pretty cute.

    Maybe Techdirt can forward this news item to idiotic, propaganda spreading rags like the New York Times, CNN, and Fox News and ask them to report on it.

    But then again, they'll just come back to say "But Monopoly never killed anyone like GTA has!".

    I think the fundamental idealism behind Monopoly is how U.S. businesses work.

    Capitalism? Sure, once you use every means in your disposal to ruin the competition.

    Oh, and reader... you just landed on Boardwalk with 1 hotel. That'll be $2,000, please.

    I do accept Paypal.
    :)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  6. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 23 Apr 2009 @ 10:52am

    Re:

    Think...time zones.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  7. icon
    Mike (profile), 23 Apr 2009 @ 11:06am

    Re:

    Why are blog posts here apparently embargoed for nearly four hours? Reloading the front page a few times eventually showed up a "new" post -- timestamped nearly four hours before the reload BEFORE the one on which it showed up.

    Not sure what you mean?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  8. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 23 Apr 2009 @ 11:09am

    Re:

    Really?

    If this post is four hours old, how did you reply to it in 53 minutes?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  9. identicon
    DS, 23 Apr 2009 @ 11:22am

    I wish I could decide to pay $200 or 10% when it came to tax time.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  10. identicon
    Tgeigs, 23 Apr 2009 @ 11:46am

    Re:

    STFU, thimble...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  11. identicon
    Spectere, 23 Apr 2009 @ 11:49am

    Re: Heh. That's pretty cute.

    Oh, and reader... you just landed on Boardwalk with 1 hotel. That'll be $2,000, please.

    Dammit! :(

    link to this | view in thread ]

  12. identicon
    DJ, 23 Apr 2009 @ 12:35pm

    Re: Psshh

    Not to mention the funds from the parking meters going to "John Q. Public".....

    link to this | view in thread ]

  13. identicon
    DJ, 23 Apr 2009 @ 12:40pm

    Re: Blog post issue

    dunno, man. I don't have that problem.... your web browser screwy maybe?
    All my posts show up immediately.
    However, the replies usually just show up in sequential queue, rather than as reply strings.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  14. identicon
    JGM, 23 Apr 2009 @ 12:50pm

    Wired magazine had an interesting article on board games last month -- in particularly comparing Monopoly to German-style games. The article featured this quote from Derek Solko of BoardGameGeek.com:

    "Monopoly has you grinding your opponents into dust. It's a very negative experience. It's all about cackling when your opponent lands on your space and you get to take all their money."


    link to the article (hey, somebody tell me how to embed weblinks in comments):

    http://www.wired.com/gaming/gamingreviews/magazine/17-04/mf_settlers?currentPage=1

    link to this | view in thread ]

  15. identicon
    Cynical, 23 Apr 2009 @ 1:03pm

    Re: Re:

    It sounds like a technical problem. My posts show up immediately.

    Try browsing away from the page, flushing your browser cache and reloading it. It might also be your ISP caching the page.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  16. identicon
    GHynson, 23 Apr 2009 @ 1:06pm

    Out Of Date Pricing

    The cheapest property should be like $1600 (adjusted to todays prices)
    And instead of rolling doubles to get out of jail,..you should have the option to use a lawyer card, or if you have swindled more then $100mil from the community chest, you should be untouchable from the game rules.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  17. identicon
    Jim, 23 Apr 2009 @ 1:21pm

    Re: Re: Blog post issue

    Try clicking the "threaded" button at the top of the comments. It does amazing things.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  18. identicon
    zcat, 23 Apr 2009 @ 1:51pm

    Missing posts

    Try holding the shift key when you click refresh, that often gets around caching problems.

    Also some ISPs are just assholes and force everything to be cached even when it's specifically marked not to cache. If you have a *NIX shell somewhere else, you can use 'ssh -D 8080 remote.host.org' to create a proxy, then set your browser to use 'localhost 8080' as a socks5 proxy. That tunnels around whatever caching your ISP has set up.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  19. identicon
    zcat, 23 Apr 2009 @ 1:52pm

    Re: Missing posts

    Just to comment; my post showed up 'instantly' as soon as I posted it. The problem isn't techdirt (unless Mike has put some posters on manual review, but I don't think he would do that)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  20. icon
    Shawn Patrick Green (profile), 23 Apr 2009 @ 1:55pm

    Re: Psshh

    Vegas. Free parking virtually everywhere in Vegas. Vegas FTW.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  21. identicon
    _Ǻъsїήтħę_, 23 Apr 2009 @ 2:13pm

    Re: Re: Re: Blog post issue

    omg!! I never knew that either!!!

    It's truly amazing how we can repeatedly think "damn comment system, why does it work so simply and stupidly, why cant it be user friendly and show replies as replies!!" yet there's a button right there in front of our noses that makes it do just that.

    Which makes me wonder why on earth the 'threaded' view isn't the default?!?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  22. identicon
    CrushU, 23 Apr 2009 @ 2:26pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Blog post issue

    I prefer to view sequential order. I like knowing the order they were posted in, not as much as who they were replying to.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  23. identicon
    nasch, 23 Apr 2009 @ 3:10pm

    Re:

    Thanks, I'm going to order Settlers. :-)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  24. identicon
    Aidantheawesome, 23 Apr 2009 @ 3:18pm

    Re: Heh. That's pretty cute.

    But the hotel doesn't comply with safety regulations!
    Now me and my lawyer are going to sue you 2 million!
    (and you have to plea guilty, because i bought the judge and jury! =P)

    link to this | view in thread ]

  25. identicon
    Tom, 23 Apr 2009 @ 8:07pm

    Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Blog post issue

    go here and make it happen

    link to this | view in thread ]

  26. identicon
    Rob, 23 Apr 2009 @ 11:15pm

    Why so serious?

    I don't see why every body is getting so worked up about monopoly, after all it is just a game and evrybody knows that you shouldn't believe everything that you see in a game.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  27. identicon
    Cipher-0, 24 Apr 2009 @ 7:14am

    Re: Psshh

    Plus, in what city do you EVER get "Free Parking"?

    In the heart of Quincy MA there's a parking garage that you get two hours free parking - just enough for a game of Monopoly!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  28. icon
    Jan Hopmans (profile), 24 Apr 2009 @ 12:21pm

    Re:

    Different Time Zone?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  29. identicon
    Anonymous Coward, 27 Apr 2009 @ 10:28am

    Re: Why so serious?

    I hope that you just suck at being sarcastic...

    link to this | view in thread ]

  30. identicon
    NotMyName, 29 Apr 2009 @ 5:18am

    Re: Why so serious?

    'Cept for the people and kids who think ninjas stil exist, or kids who wanna breath fire like Naruto and spend countless hours playing these games daily as life passes by. But, those people don't count, right?

    link to this | view in thread ]

  31. identicon
    Clevgeme, 29 Apr 2009 @ 8:03am

    I Don't Know, I think videogames are wrost than Monopoly

    Monopoly has an evil influence? What about videogames full of crimanl violence? Monopoly can be a property oriented game, but also can teach something about business and commercial trasactions, in such videogames the player can kill other people, make robberies, and steal cars. what kind of message they sent to the people? Are crime and violence fun? Clever Games for Clever People

    link to this | view in thread ]

  32. identicon
    centurion tem, 1 Jun 2009 @ 3:19am

    know, what video games, promote fantasy, and to the last commentor, you can show that comment up yours, i am 26, and i am a father, and i hate, despise capitalism, well i dont hate alle americans, but i cant handle american culture and its ignorance, well its all about imaginary, and we as human beings are able to learn lessons through simulating other realities, well last but not least, economy can kill, and its killing millions of people today, so yes! monopoly is alot more dangerous than fighting or even sandbox GTA like games...

    up yours!!!

    link to this | view in thread ]

  33. identicon
    doug, 7 Jun 2009 @ 3:11am

    Monopoly

    The game was patented in 1906 by a Quaker woman as a teaching game on the evils of real estate speculation.
    Her patent lawyer said the word "monopoly" could not be copyrighted, any more than the word "windows" (Bill Gates lost that one).
    Atlantic city Quakers were supportive of an economy based on a single tax, developed by Henry George, who ran for mayor of New York City twice. He was defeated both times by the Pope in Rome, the largest NY landlord at the time.
    If you have ever played the game, you learned that at the end, three people starve and have no place to live.

    "To make people industrious, prudent, skillful, and intelligent, they must be relieved from want. If you would have a slave show the virtues of a free person, you must first make the slave free." Henry George,1879

    P.S. My neighbor pays about $600 a year for a three bedroom, single bath home with a front yard and a large back yard, which she owns. Her neighbor pays $25,000 a year to "own" the same such house. Go Figure.

    link to this | view in thread ]

  34. identicon
    sungod15, 29 Jun 2009 @ 12:12pm

    fallensword.com

    This Fallensword game is off the hook please join game its the best game ever http://www.fallensword.com/?ref=1754473

    link to this | view in thread ]

  35. "violent computer games, this innocent-looking board game has probably had a more corrosive influence on western morals." yeah! most of the times, violent games sucks, though it gives fun, but it sucks! , r4 nintendo ds, cartucho r4 para nintendo ds

    link to this | view in thread ]


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