All I Want for Christmas is…
October 26, 2011Just in time for Christmas, Hasbro has released its newest version of the classic board game MONOPOLY, called MONOPOLY – Electronic Banking Edition. Listen to the first paragraph of the product description posted on their official website:
“It’s all about flash, not cash, in this ultra-modern version of MONOPOLY. Wave goodbye to bills and say hello to your sweet new MONOPOLY bank card! Scoop up property with a swipe of plastic. Choose from a selection of cool tokens, including a Segway, flat screen TV and space shuttle. With cards, not cash, you can grab those properties faster than ever before!”
OMG! Have these people not been paying attention to what has been going on in the world around them? If you read my blog post from last week then you can probably guess why I’m a little (Okay, a LOT!) disturbed by this latest edition of my personal favorite board game of all time, but in case you haven’t, let me fill you in.
One of the greatest virtues of the original version of this game is how it teaches players the importance of cash management. At the beginning of the game each player is allotted a certain amount of cash, and periodically throughout the game they receive a “salary.” This “monopoly” money is then used to buy and sell property, to pay bills, and even to pay taxes. As in real life, players face consequences for their financial decisions. Not investing in property could cause a player to lose the opportunity to build a monopoly, but spending too much too soon may leave a player with too little to pay for hospital bills, taxes, and rent. Players must manage their cash well if they are to have any chance of winning; otherwise, they face the prospect of bankruptcy (talk about life imitating art).
So, how is this newest version different? Well, for starters, say goodbye to cash. As the description touts, this game is all about paying with plastic. THIS IS A TRAVESTY. I love to play Monopoly with my children. I love watching my five-year old count out the money at the beginning of the game. I love watching my eight-year old get excited about collecting rent. I love watching my eleven-year old being selective about which properties he will buy. I love watching my teenage daughter calculate the interest owed on mortgaged property. My children are learning valuable lessons and having a great time doing it, but what can be said if you removed cash from the game? What are we teaching our children if they can just buy “property with a swipe of plastic… faster than ever before!?”
Our kids are already inundated with sex, violence, and profanity, and that’s just while watching Dancing with the Stars. Don’t even get me started on cartoons. Our children are under attack! As a financial planner, I know much of the financial problems we are facing as a nation stem from our gravitation away from cash and toward paying with plastic. As a parent, I know that the best thing I can do for my children is to teach them how to manage their cash well. All I want for Christmas is a board game that can help me do that. Hasbro can keep their Electronic Banking edition—I’ll stick with the classic.