Why The Monopoly Game Is Bad For Your Wealth | Real Estate

By KalindaRoseStevenson,PhD
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Monopoly is a zero sum game based on competition. Since the money supply cannot increase, the players can win only by taking money from other players. The fundamental belief behind Monopoly is lack of money. This means that the only way to get more money is to take it away from others.

During the Great Depression, a few people made vast fortunes while thousands of other people stood in breadlines. In the zero sum game of Monopoly, for one to player to win, the others must lose.

Monopoly does not allow players to help each other. The rules forbid partnerships and loans between players.

The psychological effect of playing this highly competitive game is that you are a solo player doing whatever you can to force the other players to go bankrupt. The last thing you want to do is to help someone else stay in the game because that person might go on to drive you out of the game.

What kind of economic model does Monopoly teach? It teaches that wealth comes to the most competitive. The only way to become wealthy is to take money from others.

This belief is deeply engrained in our shared consciousness about money and success. The game of Monopoly reinforces a common belief that the only way to win is to defeat your competitors.

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 simple answer is that our economic models teach competition for limited resources as the foundation of wealth. With this model, the only way for a few to create great wealth is for everyone else to end the game broke.

What happens when you attempt to create wealth in business according to Monopoly Money Rules? It's a highly competitive game and a lonely struggle. You use your own money and do it alone. Will you succeed? Maybe. You might be one of the lucky few who manage to do it all yourself. More likely, you will end up as one of the casualties of those who tried to start a business but never made enough money to succeed.

This Depression era game is stuck in the mindset and beliefs of a game that doesn't create money. The winner takes money from others, but does nothing to create more 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.

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. With this vision, you'll see that you will make more money in transactions than takeovers. 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.

About the Author

Kalinda Rose Stevenson, PhD. Want to learn what investors know about money? Uncover the secrets in a real estate investing book about the world's most popular board game, Monopoly. www.NoMoneyLimits.com.

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