![]() ![]() ![]() After years perfecting the game, Magie patented it in 1904, incorporating several recognizable features, including the iconic “go to jail” corner. Originally called The Landlord’s Game, the game was actually the brainchild of Elizabeth Magie Phillips, a progressive woman described as a left-wing feminist, activist, writer and inventor. ![]() When it became a smash hit, he and the game makers became millionaires.īut this story is pure fiction. In this version, an unemployed man called Charles Darrow invented the game during the Great Depression of the 1930s, before selling it to the Parker Brothers in 1935. This is a far cry from the rags-to-riches Monopoly story retold for decades. In his eyes, land was a common resource to be taxed in order to generate public revenue and shift the tax burden from workers onto wealthy landlords. The roots of Monopoly can actually be found in the work of Henry George, an economist active in the 1800s, whose best-selling book Progress and Poverty proposed the creation of a single tax on land value, rather than income generated by work. It may surprise many to learn that this was definitely not the intention behind its invention. It’s the ultimate capitalist board game, representing a culture of property ownership and profit-seeking at the expense of others. These days, Monopoly is a childhood staple, as kids worldwide learn to buy properties and then push friends into bankruptcy by charging exorbitant rent in order to emerge victorious. ![]()
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