Sunday, October 14, 2007

The Game of Life (Well, Not Quite...)

One of my favorite games of all times is Monopoly. It might be because I always win when I play against my father (who's business is in real estate), but I also like how, to win, you start with nothing and can eventually make an empire where you can benefit greatly. When you play and get monopolies along a whole side of the board, you pretty much control the game (like Pepsi and McDonalds), while the other players hope to avoid your space and land on chance or community chest or even free parking (small Mom & Pop stores).

While it might be fun to completely dominate the world-wide market, there is a hefty price to pay for the economy that surrounds them. If most of the revenue of this country only goes to Disney, Coke, Pepsi, McDonald's, Kellogg, etc, then soon (if not already) they will be able to completely sensor our lives. Disney can tell ABC what news they will be able to broadcast, Coke and Pepsi will be able to set the only flavors of soda that the consumer can drink, and even Kellogg and other food companies will be able to choose the only options of ingredients you can eat. And if some small company decided to 'rebel' and challenge these big companies, then the companies will either buy them out or silence them in some other way.

So, it may be fun to make money off of hotels on Boardwalk Avenue or Marvin Gardens, but on a larger scale, there could be dire consequences.

7 comments:

Elizabeth L said...

i love this game too! im usually the banker so i end up not necessarily winning because im so focused on everyone elses money. After reading this blog, I thought about How would the world be different if one company ran the economy? Is there a time that this has happened in history? and what can we do to prevent this from happening to us, or have we already done so?

Mark@NTHS said...

hey carly i really enjoyed your post and how you compared a childhood game to a real life problem that is growing rapidly in our all so conforming country, but i have noticed that alot lately that so many things we do as "young adults" and so many things our parents do can relate to our childhood and how so many expierences really mold us is very interesting. for example when i was a little boy my brother choked on a Warhead (a popular sour candy) and from then on i never could have a warhead again and to think of my bias against that and just how so many things change that when your a child our brains are not yet matured enough to know what the consequences might be or what an outcome might be when doing things as a child for example i didnt really understand the concept of a rollar coaster and then my parents took me on splash mountain and i have hated rollar coasters ever since but i was also scared than of the wiked withc of the west and the stepmother in cinderella so to see how as we grow older some of our fears mature and others actually grow more, for example my aunt used to live in a high rise on chicago and i would always love to go on her balcony and lose my breath because of the wind and air pressure but i went out 2 thanksgivings ago and i realized how high up i was and how scared i was and things are just weirds about that when your a kid

Carly M said...

The scary thing is that it has happened before in civilizations, but maybe not in the exact same fashion. There have been leaders who have controled not only communities, but nations as well. In a fairly recent past, there was a man who started with few followers, but gained more and more support as his career "flourished". When he ran the economy and the government everybody in his régime needed to meet a certain standard, and if they fell in a certain category or rebelled against him, they were severly punished.

The Nazis were not the only group to have this established control, look at all the dictatorships, theocracies and oligarchies in the past, look at Saddam Hussain. Look at what happened when somebody came in and tried to improve these people's lives.

These unfortunate circumstances unsurface many questions: How can this new age protect itself from complete economic control? Can this world ever stop fighting each other for power? and Is it or will it ever be possible in this world to live in peace?

Tyler said...

See the way i see it is that it is totally bound to happen. Although that is a totally morbid and depressing way of looking at things, it really can happen very easily. The Fact that people want to take over in every aspect of life, really makes the idea of a monopoly reality. One of the major goals is to make it to the top, have power, just like one company running everything

Moira C. said...

This was an interesting post because not only do I love Monopoly too, but you were able to relate a board game that I grew up on, with a real issue in our world today. I agree that when the economy is run by all these big names they are able to sensor what we do or do not hear/see/learn and that is why I am very into independent products, companies, etc. I think this is just something that happens and has always happend since America became industrial, we just need to make sure smaller companies get funded so that our society does not get corrupted by a certain pherm.

andrew said...

wait a minute; isn't it just a smidge scary that one of America's favorite ways to pass time is about ruthlessly taking advantage of those less fortunate than you?

Carly M said...

I don't think America knows how to have fun any other way...