Ben Tausig author page

Sharing is the real struggle, which I know from having young kids. One merry minute they're handing their sibling the last bite of cupcake, the next they're wresting it back, apoplectic, sobbing.

We all face that conflict. Altruism feels good, but so does having stuff. I run a business myself, the American Values Club xwords. If someone asks me nicely, I'll give them as many free puzzles as they want, anytime. But on other occasions, I obsess over money, ownership, control, in ways that are hard to check even when they feel toxic.

Today's theme is part of a larger project, unveiled today, to think through this conflict. I saw the opportunity about two years ago when I first noted the anniversary. I imagined a monopoly on Monopoly puzzles--as a canvas, a chance to consider competing impulses.

A historical detail adds a wrinkle: Monopoly is a tedious game on purpose. That tedium was the point of its model and predecessor, The Landlord's Game, which was designed to show how property ownership and inequality are oppressive. You know how when you play Monopoly, frequently, one player grabs up the reds and the yellows and the greens within five minutes, and for the next two hours, the rest of the party gets to be the disdainful proletariat renter class? That's kind of what the designers were after.

Lesson learned, perhaps, but the game remains seductive. We keep living its contradictions, we keep buying it, as if it might be different next time although the rules haven't changed. Our carpets will be streaked with cupcake crumbs and tears; the game guarantees it. Let the stains remind us not only that whoever loves money will never have enough money, but that the spoils of generosity may include our own grace.