Marketology

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I am utterly astonished. We have heard of the DaVinci code, but there is a MONOPOLY code. The secret rules of the game from the early 1900s show how, by changing the rules, everyone can live in prosperity.

Back in the early 1900s a woman called Elizabeth J. Magie patented the Landlord’s game to be a “practical demonstration of the present system of land-grabbing with all its usual outcomes and consequences.” Elizabeth was not against capitalism, rather defeating monopoly in all its forms (but, particularly, monopoly of nature). Lizzie continued to work on the design of The Landlord’s Game as a way to explain how the political economy system of  Henry George would work in real life. Henry George was against all forms of taxation except from those who owned land.

Parker Brothers purchased Elizabeth’s patent in 1932 for $500, on condition that Parker Brothers would continue to publish The Landlord’s Game as well as Monopoly.  In the third edition, published in 1939, and consistent with the agreement with Elizabeth, the game came with two sets of rules. However, only the rules copyrighted by Parker Brothers were actually sold with the game. Purchases were required to contact Elizabeth Magie Phillips to obtain the alternative rules. Remarkably, Elizabeth’s rules were made available by Hasbro on the company’s website.

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