{"id":487,"date":"2017-01-27T23:30:18","date_gmt":"2017-01-28T04:30:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/?p=487"},"modified":"2023-05-06T17:01:19","modified_gmt":"2023-05-06T21:01:19","slug":"board-games-and-bucks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/?p=487","title":{"rendered":"Board Games and Bucks"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>One of the most puzzling aspects of the last 10 or so years of economic and political discourse in the United States is the growing affection towards socialism and collectivism.\u00a0 Forget the obvious historical lessons that the former soviet bloc taught the world about the failures and incompetencies of socialism.\u00a0 After all, the Berlin wall fell in 1990 and the Soviet Union dissolved just over a year later \u2013 events far too distant in the past to resonate with a culture habituated to instant gratification.\u00a0 What boggles the mind is how the social-media generation can look past the ongoing misery in North Korea or Cuba<\/p>\n<p><center><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/n-mUZRP-fpo\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/center><\/p>\n<p>and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/news\/wonk\/wp\/2016\/01\/29\/venezuela-is-on-the-brink-of-a-complete-collapse\/?utm_term=.a30ca2f1b4e6\">incredible collapse of Venezuela<\/a>.\u00a0 These events are happening in the here-and-now and, surely, should be part of the digital discussion.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve often wondered how to explain the discrepancy between the \u2018slights\u2019 that draw public attention to the \u2018benefits\u2019 of socialism (free college being a recent favorite) and the serious and wide spread problems that show the deep social and economic costs of that system.\u00a0 How can relatively small first-world issue, such as the pain of student debt, dominate the social media sphere while reports of widespread misery, such as interviews with average Cubans, who report that new toilets typically cost 2 years of wages, receive almost no attention?\u00a0 Is it a product of willful ignorance, poor education, fear of new ideas outside the comfort zone, myopic focus on self at the expense of others, simple unawareness, or some combination of these?\u00a0 And while I don\u2019t expect that one answer will apply in every situation, I am convinced that most cases are largely explained by a poor education and an over-emphasis of the self at the expense of neighbors.<\/p>\n<p>Oddly enough, I think this conclusion is strongly supported by the large and growing popularity in board games.\u00a0 This idea occurred to me over the recent Christmas holiday when I had ample time to play lots of board games with economically savvy friends.\u00a0 Many of the situations that arose drew snarky comments about the economic leanings of the game designers, how particular moves smacked of socialism, and so on.<\/p>\n<p>Let there be no mistake, I am a fan of board games, especially the European style games like <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.boardgamegeek.com\/boardgame\/13\/catan\">Catan<\/a><\/em>, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.boardgamegeek.com\/boardgame\/555\/princes-florence\">Princes of Florence<\/a><\/em>, <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.boardgamegeek.com\/boardgame\/9209\/ticket-ride\">Ticket to Ride<\/a><\/em>, and so on.\u00a0 Board games are a favorite pastime at my household and the holidays always afford ample time to gather everyone together to play.\u00a0 Ordinarily, I analyze the game mechanics and strategy in a bid to win, but due to the many comments flying around, I began to think about board games within a greater context.<\/p>\n<p>I began to realize that, while they are fun, many board games may be contributing to the problem of economic ignorance rather than helping it.\u00a0 The reasons, in a nutshell, are two.\u00a0 First, a large majority of board games typically are built around an economic mechanic, such as growing a civilization or increasing trade, and provide players with a bank from which to draw funds periodically during the game.\u00a0 The bank comes as starting equipment with no recognition what the money contained represents nor where it comes from. Second, board games are often adversarial and zero-sum, in which the gain of one character comes at the expense of the others.<\/p>\n<p>These two notions fly in the face of economic realities.\u00a0 As I\u2019ve covered elsewhere, money in banks are not simple piles of currency used to prime the pump at the \u2018beginning of the game\u2019.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/?p=101\">Money represents the storehouses of the collective labor\/time<\/a> and expertise of untold numbers of people who have come before.\u00a0 We draw on this collected effort every time we get a loan, draw a dividend, or receive interest.\u00a0 We contribute to the pool every time we buy stock or make a deposit in our accounts.\u00a0 As a society, we grow wealth together, a point best exemplified by the <a href=\"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/?p=479\">parable of the pencil<\/a> \u2013 which brings us to the second point.<\/p>\n<p>As the rule, not the exception, we benefit by cooperation and not by competition.\u00a0 We not only draw on the collected financial wealth of our society but also on its collected intellectual wealth.\u00a0 Specialization and the division of labor can\u2019t work without each of us sharing our talents and expertise with each other.\u00a0 This observation is not meant to dissuade one from the idea that competition is bad \u2013 it is not.\u00a0 Competition is the mechanism by which we decide on those goods and services that best serve society; but it needs to be recognized for what it is \u2013 an essential ingredient for vetting new ideas against old \u2013 but not the norm for everyday life.<\/p>\n<p>At this point, we can return to the central conjecture that board games contribute to the overall misinformation of how the economy truly works that many people suffer from. \u00a0As a case in point, consider one of our current favorites, the game called <em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.boardgamegeek.com\/boardgame\/143884\/machi-koro\">Machi Koro<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Machi-Koro.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-490\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Machi-Koro.jpg\" alt=\"Machi Koro\" width=\"857\" height=\"1021\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-490\" srcset=\"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Machi-Koro.jpg 857w, https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Machi-Koro-252x300.jpg 252w, https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Machi-Koro-768x915.jpg 768w, https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Machi-Koro-810x965.jpg 810w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 857px) 100vw, 857px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The basic theme of the game is that each player has just been elected mayor of a small town (that\u2019s what <em>machi koro<\/em> means) and their goal is to grow the town into the largest city in the region by building developments and public works and by \u2018stealing\u2019 from the neighboring coffers.\u00a0 The game mechanic is built around the payout that these investments yield when the active player roles a die or dice.\u00a0 The investments come in four types, designated by their background color.\u00a0 Blue investments payout upon any matching role while green ones only yield an income when the active player gets a match.\u00a0 The payouts come from the bank with no connection as to why the investment produced a return.\u00a0 Red and purple investments operate analogously to the blue and green, with activation coming either on any turn or from the active player, respectively, with one difference.\u00a0 The resulting money comes not from the bank but from one\u2019s opponents.<\/p>\n<p>The red investments feature mostly eating establishments with names like Sushi Bar, Caf\u00e9, and Pizza Joint.\u00a0 The idea being that the unlucky player who activated them on his role is being charged for eating out.\u00a0 As bad as the red properties are, the purple investments are far more debilitating.\u00a0 Featuring large public works with names like Publisher and Tax Office, the purple properties can positively cripple your economy.\u00a0 Since they activate last in priority, a purple establishment can take profit out of a player\u2019s hands seconds after it is earned.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Machi-Koro-Cards.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-491\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Machi-Koro-Cards.jpg\" alt=\"Machi Koro Cards\" width=\"857\" height=\"313\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-491\" srcset=\"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Machi-Koro-Cards.jpg 857w, https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Machi-Koro-Cards-300x110.jpg 300w, https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Machi-Koro-Cards-768x280.jpg 768w, https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/Machi-Koro-Cards-810x296.jpg 810w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 857px) 100vw, 857px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Don\u2019t get me wrong, <em>Machi Koro<\/em> is absolutely fun and I highly recommend it, but it is a poor model for the economy.\u00a0 Each player is not required to do anything to earn the money that comes their way.\u00a0 No customers exist whose needs must be satisfied, no voters must be courted, no supply chains, no production tradeoffs, no distributing or marketing of goods \u2013 in short no cooperation with anything or anyone else.\u00a0 Of course, it is the competition that makes it fun to play but, under no circumstances should it be thought of as a model for the real thing. Perhaps the only thing it gets correct, is the burdensome nature of taxes and crony capitalism.<\/p>\n<p>So, what to do about board games?\u00a0 Well, it is important to recognize that the games that are popular are so because they reflect something we like.\u00a0\u00a0 They reflect our ideas and values rather than causing them.\u00a0 So, continue to play them and have fun.\u00a0 And if you can slip into some discussion about how the economy really works then you\u2019ll be a winner regardless of the final score.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the most puzzling aspects of the last 10 or so years of economic and political discourse in the United States is the growing affection towards socialism and collectivism.\u00a0... <a class=\"read-more-button\" href=\"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/?p=487\">Read more &gt;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=487"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1191,"href":"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/487\/revisions\/1191"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/commoncents.blogwyrm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}