Rice University 2015 Commencement Remarks
The House Rule
I asked myself why I am the only person my age who still likes Monopoly. Plenty of games are enjoyed by twenty-somethings nowadays—after all, this is America—but “in the name of all that is holy, please let it be something other than Monopoly”, my friends say.
Monopoly gained popularity during the Great Depression because it satirized American capitalism. Bored citizens from around the country would grab whatever trinkets they could find—a thimble, perhaps, or a flatiron (they were tiny in the ‘30s)—and gather ‘round the game board to have a go at being the one person who doesn’t come out bankrupt. After a few turns of equal opportunity, random chance, and more random chance, the losers would clean up and cry as Mr. Moneybags continued to smile up at them from his impossible dream. The truth of it would hit when they put their thimbles, flatirons, and selves back in their proper place: a small, hopeless home in need of care and food. Hilarious! If that’s not satire, then I don’t know what satire is. Monopoly: a cold reminder that America isn’t fair.
Maybe my friends hate Monopoly, then, because it is designed to be hated.
I’m skeptical, considering that there are twice as many sets of Monopoly in households as there are households in America. Is it just the timeless aesthetic, or is it because we can’t help but see it as the closest thing to living the American Dream in fast forward? Is Monopoly the game of America because it is the game of America? While the evidence seems to point to a passion for driving each other to bankruptcy, that seems awfully ruthless. Where’s the ruth?
I then consider that nobody has ever—in the history of time—played Monopoly by the actual rules. Every family has their own set, but a lot of Monopoly’s “House Rules” are so popular that the “House”, at this point, is the entirety of the continental US (I can't speak for Hawaii). The "Free Parking Lottery" is even so popular that many believe it to be in the rule book.
According to the Monopoly Handbook, by Mr. Moneybags, that I own, the most common complaint about Monopoly is that it takes too long. It only takes so long, though, because of all of our House Rules. I’m pretty sure that this is irony (or, at least, flatirony). As one unified community, we have chosen to come to a common consensus in order to introduce new laws that counter the progress of free competition. Our government is built on similar principles. Hence the word: congress.
It’s almost like we want to help each other by instinct, such that we introduce systems even when we don’t notice ourselves doing it. Time and again we even stretch beyond our own House Rules by conducting unofficial trades and looking the other way when somebody really wants a certain roll. This is the American way, just as as we are rated second in the world for charitable giving. It is functional compassion, meaning that it is necessary if America is to function without everybody dying.
I love Monopoly for the same reason that I love all satire: it is fun while it happens, and then leaves me facing a truth that I had been trying to ignore. In this case, the truth is that America only works because we balance vicious competition with intense compassion. Today, we continue to lose faith in our political system and in God. I try to battle this entropy with a conscious effort to extend kindness, pride and optimism further and deeper than ever before. Otherwise, nobody collects $200.
“You’ve got to love everybody and make them feel good about themselves.”
- The Presidents of the United States of America
I asked myself why I am the only person my age who still likes Monopoly. Plenty of games are enjoyed by twenty-somethings nowadays—after all, this is America—but “in the name of all that is holy, please let it be something other than Monopoly”, my friends say.
Monopoly gained popularity during the Great Depression because it satirized American capitalism. Bored citizens from around the country would grab whatever trinkets they could find—a thimble, perhaps, or a flatiron (they were tiny in the ‘30s)—and gather ‘round the game board to have a go at being the one person who doesn’t come out bankrupt. After a few turns of equal opportunity, random chance, and more random chance, the losers would clean up and cry as Mr. Moneybags continued to smile up at them from his impossible dream. The truth of it would hit when they put their thimbles, flatirons, and selves back in their proper place: a small, hopeless home in need of care and food. Hilarious! If that’s not satire, then I don’t know what satire is. Monopoly: a cold reminder that America isn’t fair.
Maybe my friends hate Monopoly, then, because it is designed to be hated.
I’m skeptical, considering that there are twice as many sets of Monopoly in households as there are households in America. Is it just the timeless aesthetic, or is it because we can’t help but see it as the closest thing to living the American Dream in fast forward? Is Monopoly the game of America because it is the game of America? While the evidence seems to point to a passion for driving each other to bankruptcy, that seems awfully ruthless. Where’s the ruth?
I then consider that nobody has ever—in the history of time—played Monopoly by the actual rules. Every family has their own set, but a lot of Monopoly’s “House Rules” are so popular that the “House”, at this point, is the entirety of the continental US (I can't speak for Hawaii). The "Free Parking Lottery" is even so popular that many believe it to be in the rule book.
According to the Monopoly Handbook, by Mr. Moneybags, that I own, the most common complaint about Monopoly is that it takes too long. It only takes so long, though, because of all of our House Rules. I’m pretty sure that this is irony (or, at least, flatirony). As one unified community, we have chosen to come to a common consensus in order to introduce new laws that counter the progress of free competition. Our government is built on similar principles. Hence the word: congress.
It’s almost like we want to help each other by instinct, such that we introduce systems even when we don’t notice ourselves doing it. Time and again we even stretch beyond our own House Rules by conducting unofficial trades and looking the other way when somebody really wants a certain roll. This is the American way, just as as we are rated second in the world for charitable giving. It is functional compassion, meaning that it is necessary if America is to function without everybody dying.
I love Monopoly for the same reason that I love all satire: it is fun while it happens, and then leaves me facing a truth that I had been trying to ignore. In this case, the truth is that America only works because we balance vicious competition with intense compassion. Today, we continue to lose faith in our political system and in God. I try to battle this entropy with a conscious effort to extend kindness, pride and optimism further and deeper than ever before. Otherwise, nobody collects $200.
“You’ve got to love everybody and make them feel good about themselves.”
- The Presidents of the United States of America
After The Party from Grant Raun on Vimeo.