Welcome to the Game of Monopoly — Where 100 People Own the Board
Picture this: a colossal board game stretching across the Earth, 8 billion players trapped on it, moving in circles, hoping for a break. But here’s the catch — only 100 players own the board. Every street, every plot of land, every hotel, every railroad, every utility. They own it all.
The other 8 billion? They play. Not for power, not for wealth, but for survival. Each round, they roll the dice, hoping to pass GO and collect just enough to pay rent, avoid jail, and stay in the game.
But something feels… off. No matter how many times you play, the odds never seem to favor you. Your wages don’t rise as fast as rent. Your debts grow while the owners profit. And every time a new form of wealth is created — digital real estate, data, AI models, crypto — it too gets absorbed into the board. Owned. Controlled.
What if the problem isn’t the players?
What if the problem is the game itself?
The Origin of Monopoly: A Game of Extraction
Here’s the twist. The game we know as Monopoly was never meant to celebrate greed. It was created in 1904 by Elizabeth Magie, not as a lesson in winning, but as a warning. Her game, “The Landlord’s Game,” exposed how wealth concentrated in the hands of a few while the rest struggled to survive. It was a critique of power, land ownership, and rent-seeking.
But capitalism has a way of taking critique and selling it back to you. Monopoly was rebranded as a celebration of power. The goal shifted from “expose the system” to “become the system.” The winner? The one who bankrupts everyone else.
If you’ve ever played Monopoly to the end, you know something unsettling happens. The joy drains. The “winner” is surrounded by broken players, empty chairs, and silence. It feels less like victory and more like isolation. The game doesn’t end with glory. It ends with emptiness.
Now ask yourself: Is this not the same feeling modern society leaves us with? Surrounded by wealth, drowning in debt, playing a game we didn’t choose, for a prize we don’t even want.
“You think the dice decide your fate? No, my friend. It’s the board you stand on. Flip it over.”
How Many Rounds Until You Realize the Game is Rigged?
At first, most players believe in “the grind.” Work hard, hustle, play smart, and you’ll make it. But after enough rounds, some begin to notice the pattern. Wages stay the same, but rent increases. They see how debt follows them from one space to another. They watch as corporations gobble up land, housing, and even digital spaces.
At first, they think, “I must be playing wrong.”
But after more rounds, some players realize, “It’s not me. It’s the game.”
Some players give up. They go numb. They say, “That’s just how it is. Life is Monopoly.”
Others get angry. They see the system for what it is: a closed loop designed to favor the few.
This is where the disruptors come in. These aren’t ordinary players. They’re the anarchists, pink punks, solar punks, eco-warriors, and system rebels who refuse to keep playing. They don’t just reject the rules — they question the very logic of the game itself.
They ask questions like:
- Why is it called Monopoly?
- Why is the only goal to acquire more property, more money, more stuff?
- Why is the penalty for “not playing fair” to be sent to jail? Who decides what “fair” means?
- Why are we limited to only one kind of capital (money) when there are at least 10 forms of capital (social, cultural, ecological, spiritual, etc.)?
But here’s the catch: those who question the game are punished. They’re labeled “radicals,” “criminals,” or “outcasts.” And just like in Monopoly, they get sent to jail — sometimes literally, sometimes metaphorically.
The Rise of the Disruptors: Those Who Refuse to Play
In every generation, there are those who reject the board. They don’t want to “win” the game. They want to leave the board entirely.
Some look for an exit using technology — blockchain, crypto, DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous Organizations), and AI. They believe these tools could decentralize power. But each time, the 100 owners find a way to seize control of these tools too.
Other disruptors walk a different path. They reject Monopoly altogether. They leave the board and invent new games. Games not about God, Gold, and Glory (the 3G’s of the old world), but about Love, Learning, and Legacy (the 3L’s of the regenerative future).
These disruptors go by many names: They are not trying to win Monopoly. They’re building a new board entirely.
PolyPolli Pachamama: The New Game
Unlike Monopoly, the goal of PolyPolli Pachamama is not to hoard. It’s to heal. Players don’t “buy property” — they build resilient communities. Players don’t “go to jail” — they confront existential threats like climate collapse, AI runaway, and pandemics.
The rules are simple, but profound:
- Build Resilient Communities — Use principles of cooperation, not competition.
- Overcome Existential Threats — Together, face crises that no one person can face alone.
- Design a Regenerative World — Move from survival to flourishing by installing the 3L’s: Love, Learning, and Legacy.
Each turn, players build eco-villages, co-housing projects, and permaculture farms. They regenerate soil, build renewable energy systems, and form decentralized governance. Unlike Monopoly, where the last player standing wins, in PolyPolli Pachamama, everyone wins — or no one does.
The Great Escape: How Do We Leave Monopoly?
- Upgrade your motivational memetic Operative System (OS) from the 3G’s (God, Gold, and Glory) to 3L’s. The old world ran on conquest, wealth, and divine justification. The new world is built on Love, Learning, and Legacy.
- Stop Playing Zero-Sum Games.
In Monopoly, for one person to win, everyone else must lose. In life, cooperation beats competition every time. - Build the New Board.
Stop trying to “reform” the Monopoly board. Leave it. Join movements creating eco-villages, cooperatives, blockchain DAOs, and polycultural economies. - Remember the Power of Story.
The Monopoly board was a story that became reality. But every story can be rewritten. Create new myths, new narratives, and new visions of what’s possible. This is what storytellers, polyculturalists, and artists are already doing.
“There are no walls keeping you here, only stories. Change the story, and you are free.”
The Final Question: Will You Stay on the Board?
I leave you with a choice:
- Stay on the Monopoly board. Keep rolling dice, paying rent, and hoping to survive.
- Redesign the board. Shift the rules, change the system from within.
- Leave the board entirely. Become a game designer. Write a new story, a new economy, and a new reality.
“The game you play is only as real as you believe it to be. Do you believe in Monopoly… or do you believe in PolyPolli Pachamama?”
This is the final round.
Will you roll the dice?
Or will you rise from the table?
The board is cracked. The pawns are waking up.
The 8 billion are stirring.
And if you’re reading this…
You’ve already taken your first step off the board.
Disclaimer: This article uses metaphor and storytelling to explore societal systems. References to “Monopoly” are symbolic, not linked to any trademark. The content is for reflection and inspiration, not legal, financial, or professional advice.