Live data from Hacker News

Monopoly was invented to demonstrate the evils of capitalism (2017)

bbc.com

51–60 of 374 posts

Re: Monopoly was invented to demonstrate the evils of capitalism (2017)

#51
post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Any boardgame that involves eliminating players from it is a non-starter for me.

There's some intense relationship-ending games of Sorry in your past, I can sense it.

lol, more like my kids getting eliminated and then causing trouble.

Re: Monopoly was invented to demonstrate the evils of capitalism (2017)

#52
post #37

[flagged]

Weird, France has been under socialist governments plenty of times since the 30s and we never experienced any of that. You might be thinking about communism.

To some, they see no difference between the two and neither do they see difference in implementation.

Re: Monopoly was invented to demonstrate the evils of capitalism (2017)

#53

[flagged]

In the large, it's extremely unclear that everything you've named is a side-effect of capitalism or other effects (such as network effects; hard to predict whether a critical mass of invention in any one location would kick off the kind of technology revolution that has occurred regardless of the form of government atop it).

Re: Monopoly was invented to demonstrate the evils of capitalism (2017)

#54
post #43
post #10

Monopoly teaches people a view of economics being a zero-sum game and too many people learn the wrong lessons from it. Real life isn't a zero-sum game.

The monopoly game is not zero-sum. Money increases when you pass start, and cards drawn are on average a source of money. In fact, the money owned by players inflates as the game goes on.

This is correct - but I think the point the user above is trying to make is that the game doesn't teach the most fundamental lesson of capitalism - that competition drives adaptation.

Re: Monopoly was invented to demonstrate the evils of capitalism (2017)

#55
post #43
post #10

Monopoly teaches people a view of economics being a zero-sum game and too many people learn the wrong lessons from it. Real life isn't a zero-sum game.

The monopoly game is not zero-sum. Money increases when you pass start, and cards drawn are on average a source of money. In fact, the money owned by players inflates as the game goes on.

You could argue that's just inflation. Total real value remains the same with every lap, it's just distributed differently between players (particularly if you count the unclaimed tiles as an extra player)

Re: Monopoly was invented to demonstrate the evils of capitalism (2017)

#56
post #37

[flagged]

Weird, France has been under socialist governments plenty of times since the 30s and we never experienced any of that. You might be thinking about communism.

Socialism is an economic system. I’m pretty sure France has never had a socialist economy.

Re: Monopoly was invented to demonstrate the evils of capitalism (2017)

#57
post #10

Monopoly teaches people a view of economics being a zero-sum game and too many people learn the wrong lessons from it. Real life isn't a zero-sum game.

as the article points out the game was in particular desgigned to show the economic effects of private land rent, hence the original title 'the landlord's game', and that is in fact a zero sum game as they aren't making any more of it. And in particular on tech websites like these people vastly overstate how non 'zero-sum' economic activity actually is mostly because tech has been in a bubble of highly anomalous grow…

I think that’s a super narrow view of tech development. Many menial jobs are being replaced by tech, and if that’s not increasing productivity than I don’t know what Ford’s assembly lines did...

Re: Monopoly was invented to demonstrate the evils of capitalism (2017)

#58
post #10

Monopoly teaches people a view of economics being a zero-sum game and too many people learn the wrong lessons from it. Real life isn't a zero-sum game.

as the article points out the game was in particular desgigned to show the economic effects of private land rent, hence the original title 'the landlord's game', and that is in fact a zero sum game as they aren't making any more of it. And in particular on tech websites like these people vastly overstate how non 'zero-sum' economic activity actually is mostly because tech has been in a bubble of highly anomalous grow…

I understand that land is finite, but you'll need to explain further how tech is at all similar, or else I'm not sure it's a good metaphor. Monopolistic platforms aren't great, and I'm also no fan of competitive inefficiency, but how is any of this like land? It sounds like you're implying it becomes impossible at some point to make more tech?

Re: Monopoly was invented to demonstrate the evils of capitalism (2017)

#59
post #4

I love how everyone who wins at monopoly acts like a right arse to the other people and it turns out it was just rolls of the dice that decided if they won... I certainly always feel like I deserve to have won.

Believe it or not there is an element of strategy in Monopoly (or can be, if you take the time to learn it). Not all spaces are landed on equally, and not all properties have the same return on investment.

Playing with common house rules tends to remove elements of strategy.

Re: Monopoly was invented to demonstrate the evils of capitalism (2017)

#60
post #4

I love how everyone who wins at monopoly acts like a right arse to the other people and it turns out it was just rolls of the dice that decided if they won... I certainly always feel like I deserve to have won.

Then you aren't playing correctly.

The way to win monopoly is in trading cards to gain monopolies. The winner is almost always the person who makes the most deals.

A player can win the game simple by making the most deals with other players, even if they are a loser in every single one of those deals.

It's far more a lesson on negotiations and trading - ie. business lessons, not capitalism lessons.

Post reply on HN