Here I am, CEO of Top Hat Industries, trying to make a buck in the Atlantic City real estate market. I just finish building my second house on Baltic and can't help but wander over to Kent to that flashy hotel and casino they have there. It's like God's rolling dice and I can't help but move....
The game of Monopoly gives you so little choice in how you squander your money, I think it must have some deeper meaning. Like the compulsive gambler, the losing Monopoly player can't stop himself from living beyond his means, spending more than he takes in at the fine hotels of AC, till inevitably he crashes.
No amount of planning and forethought can stop his downspiral. His token lands on Park or Boardwalk, and he must enter the hotel and mortgage his properties to offset the fantastic expenses he accrues there. He can't stop, and eventually becomes destitute.
Of course, life throws the problem gambler a bone now and again...thinly disguised in Monopoly as "Chance" and "Community Chest" cards. In addition to the usual hard knocks, such as going directly to jail, these cards provide the kind of bizarre and random strokes of good fortune known to the gambler.
But what's the planner and plotter supposed to do in this environment? Ten bucks for second place in a beauty contest? When I'm living on the tramp in AC, I can make much better cash rigging lightweight boxing matches. What kind of madness is Monopoly all about?