The Gift Of Monopoly
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| An often overlooked monopoly. Nothing to fear or be overtly suspicious of. Simply the tool of earthly kings to exact tribute via the charging of interest... interest being what God has always hated and forbidden the righteous from demanding from others. |
Monopoly is a game developed over a 100 years ago.
This game can be a valuable teaching tool making seemingly complex concepts very simple to understand.
The excitement of 'winning' and the pain of 'losing' is explored, as are the realities of paying rents, borrowing through mortgaging property, paying taxes, and the consistency of money usually going 'out' and the challenge of making it come 'in'.
Another game that is much older and also brings the realities of 'life' into perspective is Life.
Much how an analogy, a poem, a parable, and a simple story can clarify things convoluted, the board games Monopoly and Life have taught thousands of people lessons about life and how certain choices bring about certain consequences.
Besides the political ramifications of these games and their original intent, the lessons are, in my opinion, extremely valuable.
Monopolies are often times illegal... making life difficult for many people and easy for a few... and also easier for many people at the responsibility of a few.
The natural tendency of an open market is consolidation... and this eventually leads to a monopoly.
Government, by definition, is a monopoly.
The power to issue money is also a monopoly (my argument is that the money itself is 'owned' not by the individual currently holding money, but whomever initiated the credit).
The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is slave to the lender.
- Proverbs 22: 7The armed forces are a monopoly as is the police force (extensions of government).
Monopolies are often times talked about in a negative manner and there are many reasons why this is.
This article isn't to promote monopolies, nor the buying of the game with that name, but an encouragement to learn what that game is hinting to and also learning how to manage one's life regarding the topic.
For many people, the consolidation of a market by a single company allows low prices to exists.
For the common consumer, lower prices is always good thing.
However, the easiness of every day 'life' comes at a cost regarding one's position among the mechanisms of the market.
When a company is strong, working for such a company sounds like a good idea and brings many benefits.
But employees are easily fired or laid-off.
A job is only secure when you are the boss... but even the market dictates that sense of security.
For a small business owner, lower prices is sometimes the death of their business.
Regarding monopolies, the fear (and evident problem according to history) is that a single company / entity can raise (or lower) prices and the consumer has no other choice besides going without the product(s) (and competitors cannot compete with lower prices).
This is why utilities and natural resources are sometimes nationalized by governments, forming 'legal' monopolies with price regulation.
As with anything that grows too large, the quality of product or service may suffer... or its management may suffer in terms of efficiency.
A monopoly as a government or as a large and old company that doesn't adapt to change or ceases to be efficient can sometimes be similar to letting a house go unmaintained for too long.
No matter how 'nice' a new house is after being built, if necessary care and maintenance goes ignored things can begin to sag, break, and worsen.
A strong house built one year may be falling apart another year.
The longer repairs and maintenance are ignored, the more expensive and troubling the problems can become.
Worse case scenario is a complete tear-down of the house.
This has happened with certain governments and certain companies, regardless of their size and influence of monopoly.
It is usually the employees of both governments and companies whose lives suffer... besides the other people, either those subject to governments or impacted by market fluctuations of companies.
At the first glimpse of something going wrong or needing attention, even a very old house can continue to stand strongly and be comfortable and valuable so long as repairs and maintenance is regularly done since its inception.
Notice the use of an analogy in talking about monopolies and our lives.
This is why I mention these two board games in relation to an individual's life.
To ignore the manner the world functions through money, is to ignore the maintenance and repairs and attention necessary to lessen the surprise of the unseen... and lessons are learned the hard way.
Since the vast majority of people on earth today do not live directly off the land and thus do not derive their sustenance from their own direct efforts, but are a part of specialized societies, paying attention to money, monopoly and their interaction to life, is vital.
Understanding monopoly and life is essential.
For those that ignore such things, they may often complain and not know how to 'change' their circumstances.
However, there are those of us who know very well our place and our task... and this speaks to you as well:
We who are strong ought to bear with the failings of the weak and not to please ourselves.
- Romans 15: 1Governments may make promises, or politicians may make a great argument, but the reality is that you are responsible for your choices... and you can choose to be wise or stay ignorant.
It is 'how' you understand money, and monopolies, and this life, that make the difference between suspicion or satisfaction, complaint or compromise, liability or leverage.
Leverage your knowledge in your favor in a way that serves others best.
From the business person's perspective, they may not desire to have competition.
When a new(er) idea, product, or service is introduced, it is a grand opportunity for those first to offer the new(er) thing.
As others realize the opportunity and see an entry into the market, competition lines up.
In due time, if the new(er) thing realizes great demand, markets will first grow and eventually consolidate... with the stronger, more productive, better leveraged, better managed companies 'winning'.
The weaker companies either go bankrupt or are sold to the stronger companies.
In past decades this has happened with oil companies, then media companies, and currently with technology companies.
Notice the same phenomenon occurs with political parties.
The business of democracy is important, but the responsibilities cannot be ignored as with the house analogy.
An old industry isn't 'fixed', although it may seem that way.
A look at automobiles and the reintroduction of electric cars is a good example... and it is only a matter of time that internal combustion engines are a thing of the past like the dinosaurs and ancient organic life the fuel for such engines is harvested from.
The game of Monopoly allows the common person an introduction to this phenomena and may encourage their minds to 'think'.
More sophisticated and thought-provoking games like CashFlow by Robert Kiyosaki, the author of the Rich Dad Poor Dad series, is a decent mention.
That game is like Monopoly and Life in a more detailed way.
My hope is that more individuals take responsibility for their finances, their choices in life, and somehow move beyond being passive consumers and employees... but better keepers of their fellow man.
This is the encouragement, not to push people to chase money, but to better manage the dynamic between themselves and the world at-large... and our collective role with one another.
Some people are satisfied (or have resolved) to simply get by with whatever job they can find that demands the least amount of energy and attention from them.
But to me, this isn't living life to the fullest in the greater concept of that theme.
That attitude is why government becomes an ineffective bureaucracy that is stifling and a massive failure.
That attitude is also why companies fail... and why the rafters sag in house neglected.
This is historically predictable.
Business that at one time enjoyed a greater market presence can in another time be going bankrupt and closing its doors... because its management didn't change along with the market.
Like a person refusing to grow, mature, and adapt to changes in the world.
I desire people to take responsibility with the mechanisms that often times make some people feel weak and subject to market machinations.
This is why there is so much noise and confusion in news media and the internet.
Very few people really understand what is going on.
People are quick to repeat the noise and latch-on to things that may at first make sense to them, but is simply noise ignoring (or being ignorant of) the 'problem'.
Very often something is called a 'problem' but is simply a fact of life (something benign, neither 'good' or 'bad' but simply misunderstood, possibly a mystery or mystifying thing).
I call a 'problem' the ignorance of what the game Monopoly and Life and CashFlow try to teach.
Remember, it is not 'money' that is the root of all kinds of evil.
It is 'the love of money'... and the deception and promises of wealth that causes much trouble.
The tool, the 'thing' we exchange between one another for goods and services is not 'evil' on its own.
It is our heart's condition and our mind's attitude and our personal discipline (or lack thereof) regarding money that marks us, or shows us being above it and having mastered it... that idol that many others worship by default.
It is very possible for a person to be extremely wealthy yet be poor.
It is finding out in which ways a person is 'wealthy' and in which ways they are 'poor'.
Some people have great worldly possessions and are emotionally and spiritually bankrupt.
The opposite is also true: some people are poverty stricken in worldly terms while being extremely wealthy considering their character and their soul's condition.
And then there is a balance that navigates between the two extremes... a balanced way enabling one to not only 'know' but being able to help others understand.
Consider the balance and the importance of what this article speaks to and your role in life when reading the following:
But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked.
- Luke 12: 48We have a responsible role in this life, regardless of our 'position' in the greater scheme of things... since we are all family, all related, and all called to love one another.
May love be our currency, may love be the basis of our life, and may we all hold equal shares in the monopoly of love.
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