Fun fact: Monopoly originated from "The Landlord's Game" created in 1903 by Elizabeth Magie, an anti-monopolist who designed it to illustrate the negative aspects of concentrating land ownership.
And we only play half the game. Public Housing is supposed to be on Free Parking, the same way Just Visiting is on the Jail space. Once you're bankrupt you go to public housing until all but one player is there. Then you start the Prosperity portion of the game, and everyone wins. Just like communism done properly.
There was also a much less popular version of the game called Finance! Basically the same rules as Monopoly, but with a completely different skin on the board.
There is a Public Assisstence board game from the 80s. We had one when I was younger. I can't tell if it was a "anti-welfare" game or just making fun of the whole system. I grew up pretty poor, so I always assumed the latter as a kid. Since the welfare track was easier from what I remember, now I'm not so sure, lol.
It also had a second rule set where a land value tax was implemented, and the winning condition was when everyone made a minimum amount of money.
A land value tax (LVT) is a levy on the value of land without regard to buildings, personal property and other improvements upon it.[1] It is also known as a location value tax, a point valuation tax, a site valuation tax, split rate tax, or a site-value rating.
Some economists favor LVT, arguing it does not cause economic inefficiency, and helps reduce economic inequality.[2] A land value tax is a progressive tax, in that the tax burden falls on land owners, because land ownership is correlated with wealth and income.[3][4] The land value tax has been referred to as "the perfect tax" and the economic efficiency of a land value tax has been accepted since the eighteenth century.[1][5][6] Economists since Adam Smith and David Ricardo have advocated this tax because it does not hurt economic activity, and encourages development without subsidies.
LVT is associated with Henry George, whose ideology became known as Georgism. George argued that taxing the land value is the most logical source of public revenue because the supply of land is fixed and because public infrastructure improvements would be reflected in (and thus paid for by) increased land values.[7]
It's just a stupidly good tax policy, and we should be implementing it in more places.
Both of those things are part of the joke. Monopoly is a parody of capitalism, intended to make you hate rich people. The luxury tax is tiny, reflecting how there's no real cost of living for rich people. Rich people can "go to jail", but it's trivial to get away again.
the main mechanic to even get the opportunity to do anything is literally dice rolls. the game is very explicitly that if you luck out to get ahead you dominate and if you don't then you're fucked.
Not only can rich people go to jail, it's actually beneficial to be locked up there after a certain point and the board is all bought up and filled with hotels. Can't lose your cash to other players if you never move around the board 😌
TIL that back in the good ol' days of The Gilded Age there was a luxury tax and rich people went to jail!
The Carnegies and Rockefellers, the Morgans and Vanderbilts must have been quaking in their spatterdashes!
EDIT: It is, at very best, utterly useless to view the past with rose-tinted glasses.
Yes. You may pay the $50 fee before rolling your first or second turn. On the third turn if you do not roll a double you must pay the $50. In any case you pay $50 at some point unless you roll doubles or use the "get out of jail free" card.