Day two hundred fifty-four/365. I'm not into board games. But, when I was a kid, I used to play Monopoly with my cousins when we were all on vacation.
Back then, I couldn't appreciate the message conveyed by the layout of a Monopoly board. Now, it jumps right out!
The neighborhoods are divided by affluence. You can put up a house in the slums, or on some pretty exclusive property. As you hop around the board, you may have to pay income tax -- only if you're in one of the poorest neighborhoods. Folks in the more privileged section pay no income tax. There is a luxury tax among the wealthy, but it's nominal compared to the income tax paid by the poor.
On one corner is a police officer. If he catches you, you go to jail -- back in a poor neighborhood! The cop is there to protect a wealthy neighborhood against dogs, shoes, cannons, or other pieces moving through.
Was Monopoly invented by a very cynical person? Or, was it designed to convey a subtle message about economic justice?
Sue Combs, Edison e as imagens, frizshizzle, catherine_new, and 18 other people added this photo to their favorites.
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PugnoM 40 months ago | reply
Thanks for making this CC-licensed. I'm using it as an illustration on a presentation slide while I talk about monopolies. There are not a whole lot of illustrations of the _concept_ that work to illustrate, but this is such a good photo of the game that it'll work fine.
davender 34 months ago | reply
Love the colors, framing and depth of field. Thanks for making this CC-licensed. I've used it to illustrate a blog post here with attribution at the bottom of the post.: blog.davender.com/2010/08/the-market-is-not-business-busi...
MTSOfan 34 months ago | reply
Finecrafted by Nori 34 months ago | reply
Never considered that viewpoint before... and it doesn't seem so fun now somehow.
Great shot. Nice composition and color.