For starters, everyone would not begin with the same amount of money. Family background would adjust the beginning “banks” of each player.

 

Next, players would be allowed to roll the dice how ever many times they like until they got the roll they wanted—with the caveat that each roll would cost $10. “In this way, those with more financial resources at their disposal are able to pursue a better outcome than those with fewer or no financial resources,” says Wright.

 

The drawing of Chance and Treasure Chest cards would be adjusted according to the wealth of each player.

 

The issue of going, and getting out of, jail would also be affected by starting wealth. “Those with limited financial resources or who do not own property and roll doubles three times in a row or land on the wrong side of the tracks by chance end up being sent to jail, with little or no means of paying their way out, while those with greater financial resources can roll all the doubles they want as long as they check themselves into rehab,” Wright insists.

 

Those owning property or possessing financial resources would be allowed to collect $200 for going around the board. But everyone else would only receive a fraction of this amount. “This, of course, serves to widen the resource gap between rich and poor as time goes on.”

 

The result of using these life-based rules: a much faster game. “The game is likely to be over much more quickly, because one group is favored at the outset and all throughout the game by the application of two sets of rules,” he concludes.

-Noel Brinkerhoff

 

Monopoly With Liberty and Social Justice For All? (by D. Brad Wright, Wright on Health)