The game of Monopoly debuted in 1935
during a time of financial recovery after a steep economic downturn called the
Depression from which we’ve never really recovered since government
intervention created the Depression and every economic downturn since.
A similar game was developed by Elizabeth (Lizzie) J.
Magie Phillips in 1903. The
Landlord’s Game, as it was called, was self-published in 1906.
“Although The Landlord’s Game was patented, it was not taken
up by a manufacturer until 1910, when it was put into production in the U.S. by
the Economic Game Company of New York.
There were other board games based on the buying and selling of land leading up
to the ever-popular Monopoly.
There’s good historical evidence that Monopoly is
based on The Landlord’s Game for the simple fact that Parker
Brothers bought the patent rights for $500 in 1935 and there is an early old board game that some say bears a striking resemblance
to Monopoly.
Monopoly money is not real money, but it could be if
our government said it was and controlled its production.
Boom and bust economic cycles are made worse by
government interference. Left alone, the markets most often smooth themselves out
with fewer extreme highs and lows.
After the economic debacle of 2008, the government
once again tried to fix the mess it created and as a result extended the
economic recession.
The early developers of these games had hoped people
would learn basic economic principles from them. Some people have. They’re
called politicians and banksters. Here’s one of the rules from Monopoly:
Besides the Bank’s money, the Bank holds the Title
Deeds, and the houses and hotels prior to purchase by the players. The Bank pays
salaries and bonuses. It sells and auctions properties and hands out the proper
Title Deed cards when purchased by a player, it also sells houses and hotels to
the players and loans money when required on mortgages.
The Bank collects all taxes, fines, loans and
interest, and the price of all properties which it sells and auctions. The
Bank ‘never goes broke.’ If the Bank runs out of money, the Banker may issue as
much as needed by writing on any ordinary paper.
Don’t ever say that politicians don’t learn anything.
They’ve learned their lessons well even if we haven’t. United States currency
is different from Monopoly money in one way: Our government prints it, values
it, and forces us to use it as currency at an ever-decreasing value while
calling the result “prosperity.” In reality, it’s theft by dilution.
The Bible considers inflation, an increase of the
money supply via fiat currency, to be a violation of the law: “Your silver has
become dross, your drink diluted with water” (Isa. 11:22).
Clipping coins, adding a base metal to silver and gold, and printing money out
of thin are no different from reaching into people’s bank accounts and stealing
the assets.
The Bible requires “just weights and measures”:
“You shall have just balances, just weights, a just
ephah, and a just hin; I am the LORD your God, who brought you out from the
land of Egypt” (Lev. 19:36).
What would happen to a company that was adding water
to its wine or sawdust to its cement mix? They would be prosecuted for fraud.
And yet our government does not see a problem diluting
the value of our money by a process called “quantitative easing.” Our economy is
being propped up by fake money that in time will be worth as much as Monopoly
money.
There was a time when our coinage was silver and gold,
and government-created certificates were used that could be redeemed for the
physical metal. Today’s coins are made from base metals that have limited value
when compared to the trading prices of silver and gold.
The difference between Monopoly money and the United
States currency is that we know Monopoly money is worthless. If we continue
down the road of fiat money creation, it will be as worthless as Monopoly
money.
Christian legal theorists have understood the process
of assessing biblical laws and determining how to make contemporary
application. For example, Swiss Reformer Pierre Viret (1511–1571) “felt that
all laws affecting public morals and related to spiritual values should be
drawn directly from the moral law of God. However, he believed that these
absolute and eternal laws of God had to be geared to the times in which people
lived and the national temperament of the country to which the laws were to be
applied.”1
Viret’s use of the Eighth Commandment—“You shall not
steal” (Ex.
20)—and its application to the civil sphere is instructive. He applies it
to “those who clip coins2
and . . . those who consciously use false money and particularly of
those responsible for the public treasury.”3
Modern-day monetary theory and practices are clear violations of
the Eighth Commandment. Removing the silver from our nation’s coins in 1963,
printing money with nothing to back it other than the government mandating its
worth, and deficit spending are just three examples.
Israel was judged by the way it failed to keep God’s
commandments. This included economic laws that adversely affected widows and
orphans and the general population: “Your silver has become dross, your drink
diluted with water. Your rulers are rebels and companions of thieves; everyone
loves a bribe and chases after rewards. They do not defend the orphan, nor does
the widow’s plea come before them” (Isa.
1:22–23).
This indictment is based on laws set forth in the
Mosaic legislation, in particular, Deuteronomy
25:13–16. These verses may not say anything in particular about debasing
precious metals and passing them off as unadulterated and diluting wine and
advertising and selling it as the real thing, but the application to monetary
policy and consumer issues is clearly evident in the way it is applied in
Isaiah (also see Lev. 19:35–37; Prov. 11:1;
20:23; Ezek. 45:10;
Mic. 6:11).
Notes:
1.
Robert D.
Linder, The Political Ideas of Pierre Viret (Geneva,
Switzerland: Droz, 1964), 29, note.(
)
)
2.
Originally, gold
coins had smooth edges, and it wasn’t noticeable if just a little gold was
clipped from the edges using a sharp knife or a file. If this was done to
several coins, the coin clipper would have enough raw gold to exchange for an
additional small denomination coin while still holding onto his original larger
denomination coins. The same could be done with silver. In time, the perimeter
of coins were milled to have reeded (grooved) edges. The dollar, half-dollar,
quarter, and dime were originally produced with about 90 percent silver. If you
got a smooth-edged coin, you knew it had been clipped. Today, no one bothers
with clipping circulated, government-issued coins since they are no longer made
of gold and silver. You will notice that the penny and nickel do not have
reeded edges since their value is minor compared to silver and gold.()
)
3.
Quoted in
Jean-Marc Berthoud, Pierre Viret: A Forgotten Giant of the
Reformation—The Apologetics, Ethics, and Economics of the Bible
(Tallahassee, FL: Zurich Publishing, 20010), 40.()
)