One of my childhood memories, and surely not only mine, is being gathered around a table with other family members, playing the game called Monopoly. In the version we had in the family, then the only one you could buy, participants proceeded to throw dice, move their representative pieces around the board, purchase property with game money, buy houses and hotels, and delight in asking for payment for those others having the misfortune of having their piece fall on the former’s property, moreso if buildings were there.
On the side of all this were accusations of players moving their piece when no one else was looking, or of the person also wearing another hat as banker of brazenly carrying out robbery etc etc! That game is really addictive!
The game ends when one participant manages to accumulate the lion’s share of wealth, and everyone else would have almost completely failed, with no money and debt with the bank, with the last straw occurring when they fall on someone else’s property, with a new payment demand that couldn’t be met. Who does not enjoy being that capitalist that ends as a winner, at lest in those few moments of the game, and leave being the loser only to real life....
The game we had had property centred around London in the United Kingdom, and I’m aware that nowadays, there are other versions centred around other countries, including Malta.
The story takes place in Atlantic City, USA, where a woman named Elizabeth Magie was inspired by the book Progress and Poverty by the economist and journalist Henry George, published in 1879. This book discusses why poverty accompanies economic and technological progress. In it, George proposes that society should have one and only one tax, that on the annual value of land. The thinking behind this is that land value increases due to factors external to the owner, such as investments in education, technological advances and developments in facilities close by, such as hospitals, schools, infrastructure etc. Therefore, a tax on land value leads to a redistribution of this wealth to the community that generated it, with the tax being re-invested in projects for the community.
This thinking is still with us today. One practical example is the land tax payable by owners of land in NSW valued by the Valuator General of just under 2/3rds of a million dollars. This tax goes to the state.
A(nother) similar tax in NSW is the so-called rates, which is also calculated on land values, but this time payable to the local council, and goes to pay for civic services such as garbage collection.
In contrast to George’s idea, these taxes are a small part of the total income for government, so don’t represent the total income.
Back in the United States, Elizabeth Magie produced a game in 1903 called the Landlord’s Game whose intention was to educate players on the effects of economic rules. This game had two sets of rules, with players deciding with which set they played.
The first set of rules was that of Prosperity, where if one falls on a property and buys it, he’d pay a tax that is distributed to all other players. The game is won by all the playing group, when the player starting with the lowest income doubles it.
The second set is that of Monopoly, where when one purchases land, any other player having the misfortune of also landing on that land has to pay rent. This rule leads to a war of everybody against everybody, and finally just one person wins, after having impoverished and bankrupted everybody else.
The main aim of the game was for players to understand the dynamics of society and the consequences of different taxation systems, and shows that all the community benefits with the first system.
After the game had made quite a success, Elizabeth sold the game rights to Parker Brothers, who in 1930 re-published the game as Monopoly, with only the monopoly rules! Therefore, Elizabeth’s intention for the game to serve as a lesson (and warning) on the contrast between the consequences of different taxation systems was completely nullified!
This is to me nothing more than a cynical case of thought censorship by those having interest in the status quo of modern life, and by those benefiting from a system leading to the accumulation of wealth by the few, and massive inequalities overall.
Now where on earth are the dice?......
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Waħda mill-memorji ta’ tfuliti, u ċert ta’ ħafna oħrajn, hija li nkun miġbur madwar mejda flimkien ma’ membri oħra tal-familja, nilagħbu l-logħba bl-isem Monopoly. Fil-verżjoni li kellna fil-familja, dakinhar l-unika waħda li stajt tixtri, il-parteċipanti jinfexxu jitfgħu d-dadi, jmexxu l-biċċiet rappreżentanti tagħhom madwar il-bord, jixtru l-proprjetà bil-flus tal-logħba, jibnu d-djar u l-lukandi, u jogħxew jitolbu l-ħlas lil ħaddieħor li jkollu l-isfortuna li l-biċċa tiegħu taqa’ fuq il-proprjetà tal-ewwel, iktar u iktar jekk ikollu l-bini.
Dan apparti li wieħed jixli lill-ieħor li qiegħed imexxi l-biċċa tiegħu meta ħaddieħor ma jkunx qiegħed iħares, jew dak li jkun qiegħed imexxi l-bank b’serq sfaċċat eċċ eċċ! Dik il-logħba verament tista’ tivvizzjak!
Il-logħba tispiċċa meta parteċipant wieħed ikun irnexxielu jakkumula l-biċċa l-kbira tal-ġid, u l-oħrajn kollha jkunu kważi fallew, bla flus u b’dejn lejn il-bank, u l-aħħar pass tagħhom iseħħ meta jerġgħu jispiċċaw fuq proprjetà ta’ ħaddieħor, bi ħlas ġdid li ma jistgħux iħallsu. Fi kliem ieħor, din hija rappreżentazzjoni tas-sistema kapitalista. Min ma jiħux gost ikun dak il-kapitalist li jispiċċa rebbieħ, talinqas għall-ftit mumenti ta’ logħba, u inħallu li wieħed ikun tellief biss għall-ħajja ta’ vera...
Il-logħba li kellna aħna kellha proprjetà ambjentata f’Londra tar-Renju Unit, u naf li daż-żmien, hemm verżjonijiet oħra ambjentati f’pajjiżi oħra, inkluża Malta.
L-istorja tiżvolġi f’Atlantic City, l-Istati Uniti, fejn mara jisimgħa Elizabeth Magie kienet ispirata mill-ktieb Progress u Faqar (Progress and Poverty) tal-ekonomista u ġurnalista Henry George, ippubblikat fl-1879. Dan il-ktieb jitħaddet il-għaliex il-faqar jakkumpanja l-progress ekonomiku u teknoloġiku. Fih, George jipproponi li s-soċjetà għandu jkollha taxxa waħda, u waħda biss, li tkun fuq il-valur annwali tal-art. Il-ħsieb wara dan hu li l-valur tal-art jiżdied minħabba fatturi esterni għas-sid, bħal investimenti fl-edukazzjoni, avvanzi tat-teknoloġija u żvilupp ta’ faċilitajiet fil-qarib tal-art, bħal sptarijiet, skejjel u infrastruttura eċċ. Allura, taxxa fuq il-valur tal-art twassal għal redistribuzzjoni ta’ dan il-ġid lejn il-komunità li ġġeneratu, bit-taxxa tiġi reinvestita f’proġetti b’riżq il-komunità.
Dan il-ħsieb għadu magħna. Eżempju prattiku ta’ dan huwa t-taxxa fuq l-art (land tax) li titħallas mis-sidien tal-proprjetà f’New South Wales li huwa stmat mill-Valwatur Ġenerali ta’ NSW li jiswew ftit inqas minn żewġ terzi ta’ miljun dollaru. Din it-taxxa tmur lejn l-istat.
Taxxa simili (oħra) f’NSW hija l-hekk imsejħa rates, li wkoll ikkalkulata fuq il-valur tal-art, imma din id-darba titħallas lejn il-kunsill lokali, u jmorru biex iħallsu servizzi ċiviċi bħall-ġbir tal-iskart.
B’differenza mal-idea ta’ George, dawn it-taxxi huma parti żgħira mid-dħul totali tal-gvern, u ma jirrappreżentawx id-dħul totali.
Lura fl-Istati Uniti, Elizabeth Magie pproduċiet logħba fl-1903 jisimgħa Landlord’s Game (Logħba ta’ Sid l-Art) li kellha l-intenzjoni li teduka lill-ġukatur dwar l-effetti tar-regoli ekonomiċi. Din il-logħba kellha żewġ settijiet ta’ regoli, u l-ġukaturi jiddeċiedu b’liema sett se jilgħabu.
L-ewwel sett ta’ regoli kien ta’ Prosperity (Prosperità), fejn min jiġi fuq proprjetà u jixtriha, iħallas taxxa li titqassam fost il-ġukaturi kollha. Il-logħba tintrebaħ mill-grupp kollu li jkun qiegħed jilgħab, meta l-ġukatur li jibda’ bl-inqas ammont ta’ dħul ikun irduppjah.
It-tieni sett kien ta’ Monopoly (Monopolju), fejn meta wieħed jixtri l-art, kwalunkwe ġukatur ieħor li jkollu l-isfortuna li jaqa fuq l-istess art ikollu jħallas ir-renta. Din ir-regola twassal f’gwerra ta’ kulħadd kontra kulħadd, u fl-aħħar persuna waħda biss tirbaħ, wara li tkun faqqret u finalment falliet lill-oħrajn kollha.
L-għan prinċipali tal-logħba kienet li l-ġukaturi jifhmu d-dinamika tas-soċjetà u l-konsegwenzi ta’ sistemi differenti tat-tassazzjoni, u turi li l-komunità kollha tirbaħ bl-ewwel sistema.
Wara li l-logħba għamlet suċċess mhux ħażin, Elizabeth biegħet id-drittijiet tal-logħba lill-Parker Brothers, li fl-1930 reġgħu ppublikaw il-logħba bħala Monopoly, bir-regoli tal-monopolju biss! Għalhekk, l-intenzjoni ta’ Elizabeth li l-logħba sservi ta’ tagħlima (u tbeżbiża) fuq il-kuntrast bejn il-konsegwenzi ta’ sistemi differenti ta’ tassazzjoni xxejjen kompletament!
Għalija, dan mhu xejn ħlief każ ċiniku ta’ ċensura tal-ħsieb minn min għandu interess fl-istatus kwo tal-ħajja moderna, u min qiegħed igawdi minn sistema li twassal għal akkumulazzjoni tal-ġid tal-ftit u inugwaljanza kbira.
Issa fejn marru dawk id-dadi?....
1http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/latenightlive/monopoly-misunderstood/9123392, retrieved 28/3/2018
1http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/latenightlive/monopoly-misunderstood/9123392, retrieved 28/3/2018
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