Actually, there is some history behind why you
go to jail just for going around and buying property. The predecessor of
Monopoly,
Lizzie Magie's "
The Landlord's Game," was developed as a tool to teach the ideals of the
single tax movement. It was very similar to the modern Monopoly game, except that properties weren't for sale—you just paid rent, and occasionally went to jail.
The Landlord's Game was patented in 1904 and, as you might expect, was "discovered" during the Great Depression, coincidentally the time when Charles Darrow was broke and had enough free time to sit around his house designing Monopoly. When he finally managed to sell the game to Parker Brothers, Magie threatened to sue, on the grounds that Darrow had ripped off her game. (Which he had.) Parker responded by buying her patents, and everyone was happy. Magie died before the game really started making money.
So that's why you "go to jail" all the time for no apparent reason. It's to illustrate how unfair capitalism is. I'm surprised that Joseph McCarthy never brought Uncle Pennybags before a Senate subcommittee.
This rambling counterattack on Pseudo_Intellectual's pseudo-intellectualism is brought to you by Microsoft. (rim shot)