An Eye-Opening Game of Monopoly

Monopoly: a light-hearted game to play with friends and family for some nice, wholesome fun. It is also a very fair game in which everyone starts out as equals and all have the same opportunities to buy properties, open lucky chests, get money, lose money, and land in jail. Ultimately, everyone has an equal chance of winning the game.

This summer, I attended a program where I learned about social justice and social change. One of the class activities was a game of Monopoly. My classmates and I were initially excited to play, until my instructor announced a plot twist: this is no ordinary game of Monopoly. We were divided into four teams and every team had to play by different rules, representing four socioeconomic classes, from the poor to the upper class.

My team was instructed to play by regular Monopoly rules. We were the middle class, but I didn’t think much of it, and neither did my group.

At the start of the game, the upper class and my team started off with a few properties, and so we made money early on. Other teams argued amongst themselves in harsh whispers, figuring out the best strategies and essentially how to not go bankrupt. The energy in the room had shifted: everyone wanted to win.

As the game progressed, the divide between rich and poor grew. The poorer team would often land in jail and was forced to pay double regular fines. But we couldn’t do much about it, because that's what their rules called for. Sometimes, teams lost money thanks to bad or careless decisions, while other times it was because of what their rules entailed.

Finally, the game came to an end and, naturally, we were asked to reflect on how it made us feel and what we learned. One of my classmates from the poor team spoke up.

“This game gave me a different perspective on what the real world is like because I expected at least the people in this class to be compassionate, but they weren’t.”

I was suddenly wracked with guilt as I thought about how I had seen that they were struggling but hadn’t thought to help them out.

“Everyone was in it for themselves and we all wanted to be at the top. Not to have everyone on the top together but just ourselves.”

Everything she said was true. I was so focused on winning and getting the most money, I couldn’t even think about the other teams.

“And this isn’t even real life. In real life, it could be ten times worse, which makes me feel

horrible because this is just a game.”

The class went silent. Everyone was stunned by the realization of our own immense privilege in real life. Much like the privilege many of us at Havergal have, like how we don’t ever think twice about the food on our table, or having the newest iPhone, or travelling, or even attending a private school.

We all have power and privilege, some more than ours. I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase “one person can change the world” or “one person can make a difference”. They may be cliche, but they’re true. Our society is faced with people who want to see change but are unwilling to change themselves. Who argue with open mouths but closed minds. One of the many things I’ve taken away from my summer program is the importance of conversation and how we should listen to what everyone has to say, even if they disagree with us. We should strive to find common ground and mutual understanding of each other, thus moving forward as a whole.

At Havergal, we are lucky to have many opportunities to be makers of positive change. The Forum for Change, various community partnerships, as well as clubs like jack.org are all examples of resources we can use. I encourage you all to take on this challenge: find an issue you care about and try to make a change. Big or small.

If anyone has questions or would just like to talk about this topic, feel free to email me at icai@havergal.on.ca.