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.

This zero sum competitive game reflects the economic realities of 
the Great Depression.   While thousands stood in breadlines, a 
handful made fortunes.   For one to player to win, the others 
must lose.

The rules of the Monopoly prohibit partnership.  You cannot 
create joint ventures.  You cannot loan money to another player. 
You cannot borrow money from another player.

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.

As an economic model for creating wealth, Monopoly teaches that 
competition is the way of the world.   It reinforces social 
models based on competition, and the idea that success is a 
lonely climb over the heads of others.

The belief that success means competition reinforces a whole 
array of social models and beliefs about the "survival of the 
fittest" and the "law of the jungle" where only the strong 
prevail.    You can see the same belief behind the American 
mythology of the self-made man who pulls himself up by his 
bootstraps.

Even Abraham Maslow's "hierarchy of needs" is a model of the 
individual striving to succeed as an individual.   It is all part 
of the belief that success goes to the individual who wins the 
competition.

This kind of imagery is deeply embedded in our consciousness 
about what it takes to make money and what it takes to succeed in 
business. Monopoly simply reinforces the fundamental belief that 
the road to success is paved with the bodies of 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 short answer is that our economic models teach competition 
for limited resources as the foundation of wealth.   The model 
itself demands that almost everyone must 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.

As a model for creating wealth, Monopoly is stuck in the mindset 
and money beliefs of the Great Depression.  In the Monopoly game, 
the winner amasses money but does nothing to create money through 
transactions.

The Great Depression ended more than sixty years ago.   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.  Mr. Monopoly had it wrong when he thought that 
winning meant driving competitors out of business.  Yes, I know. 
The business world is still full of "black knights" and hostile 
takeovers.  And sometimes the worst people seem to win.

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.
 

Kalinda Rose Stevenson, Ph.D.
Author of "No Money Limits For Real Estate Investors: Are Monopoly 
Money Rules Putting A Lid On Your Real Estate Success?" Discover 
The Real Estate Money Secret Hidden in the Monopoly Game.
http://www.nomoneylimits.com/nml-monopoly-ebook.htm