By SONIA BOSHKO
I remember when I was a child, one of the most popular games to play in the United States was "Monopoly" made by Milton Bradley Co. Just who owned this company or how the game came into existence I do not know, but the popularity of this game put M.B. on the map. When I visited my cousins, of all the many games they had we always chose to play "Monopoly".
Like any game, there were procedures to follow. The "Bank" gave all of us the same amount of money with which to begin. The object of "Monopoly" was to bankrupt your opponents. You accomplished this by purchasing as much property as you could before anyone else. After a while you learned exactly which property was more desirable than another. The race was on to buy! Although we never heard this phrase when we were children, we were able to determine on our own what made property valuable: location, location, location. Another property that brought in consistent income were the utilities because the players were periodically directed to go to a utility location. The World Book Encyclopedia categorizes a utility as a "monopoly to be a single firm that is the only supplier of a product or service for which that is the only supplier of a product or service for which there is no close substitute." But we kids did not know that. All we knew was, the money rolled in if you owned a utility!
Once you owned property, anyone who landed on your property had to pay you rent. You could increase the amount of rent you collected by putting houses and motels on it.
How rewarding it was to collect rent. How exciting it was to excel by watching your profits grow, while you drained your opponents' finances. It would be only a matter of time when everyone would sink into bankruptcy who couldn't pay. The game was over when you had it all. EVERYTHING. The WINNER! After all, that is what the children desire. As for adults in our present society, possessions are a mark of success, an indication that you have arrived at the top, you are somebody.
Looking back, it is interesting how this children's game instilled in my cousins and me the strong disregard and unconcern for the welfare of others. How cleverly this game ignited the subconscious attitude of "me, myself and I." For any child "Monopoly" molded our outlook and thinking and subconsciously satisfied the need to accomplish, to succeed, to excel (which every person needs). But at what cost? What manner and direction was employed when dealing with my cousins? We children were not aware that our gain was someone's loss – like a seesaw. The higher I went, the lower my cousins sank. Children who win all the time don't know the pain of failure.
Well, I'm grown up now. Mature. Educated – formally in schools and informally by life's experiences. I can prove that I have reached the age of adulthood; I have a driver's license; I am allowed to view x-rated movies; I can vote; I can sign legal documents. But what form of society am I living in? The risks are higher, the profits are bigger and the failures are harsher. This society appears to be nothing more than an adult "Monopoly" game. Is the game over or is it still going on? Let's see.
We, my cousins and I and that whole generation who grew up with the game of "Monopoly," had a good dress rehearsal for the society in which we presently live; the real thing; the most sophisticated monopoly game of them all. Capitalism. To understand the important role monopoly plays in the development of capitalism and its various stages of economic development, we must trace the history of monopolies.
According to the World Book Encyclopedia, monopolies can be traced back to the Renaissance when kings, acting as "the bank" financed exploration and colonization. They issued "royal charters" – an official looking document done in calligraphy – giving the explorer the "official" right to claim and own territory from indigenous people. This "charter" established ownership for the king.
By 1899-1900's business leaders in the United States reduced competition and increased their monopolies by merging: forming corporations, trusts, cartels; introducing laws to limit, regulate, determine and control production, prices, services and markets.
I hope that I have piqued your interest and curiosity to investigate on your own, by going beyond the newspapers, radio and TV and popular magazines of the day. Read U.S. Senator Estes Kefauver's book about the formation, description and warning about the dangers of monopolies, and the Celler-Kefauver Act of 1950; understand and investigate why trade unions grew and under what conditions, what purpose the trade unions serve; what laws were introduced by the unions and why (Wagner Labor Act); what counter-laws were passed by the big business magnates (Taft-Hartley Act). If you are able to keep an "open mind", I direct you in earnest to read V.I. Lenin's "Imperialism, the highest stage of Capitalism" for an excellent documentation about monopolies and their development as supported by archival statistics.
P.S. Every time I was playing "Monopoly" with my cousins I seldom earned any glances or smiles of approval. In fact, they were very glad to see me go home.
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