http://money.cnn.com/2006/07/27/news/funny/monopoly/index.htm?section=money_latest
Monopoly ditches cash for Visa
New British version of classic board game will replace traditional paper dollars with a debit card to reflect modern lifestyles.
July 27 2006: 2:01 PM EDT
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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — The days of spending cash are over, if a British version of Monopoly has anything to say about it.
Parker Brothers said a new edition of the board game released this week in the United Kingdom and Australia switches to a Visa debit card and electronic transaction calculator from its traditional paper money.
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I recently heard that the average consumer has 19.5 credit cards. The average credit card debt sounds like a minimum wage job’s annual earnings.
Maybe it was my depression era grandparents and their children, my aunt and uncles, particular love of zero debt, a full savings account, and a “never spend more money than is in your pocket” ethic. I learned those lessons later in life. But I marvel at people’s thinking.
Unfortunately, Parker Brothers is not living in the real world.
(1) It doesn’t charge 21% interest for loans. While it may eliminate cheating by the Banker player, it doesn’t reflect the real world where the politicians, non-regulating insider regulators, the fat cat insiders, and the Federal Reserve (a private corporation that is no more “federal” than I am) ARE cheating us. They are robbing us blind!
(2) It doesn’t take 35% of your $200 when you pass go to waste. There should be one player representing the gubamint that just takes from everyone.
(3) It doesn’t, if one circuit around the board is a year, take an inflation tax of all you cash. That’s real life.
(4) It doesn’t take the opportunity to teach us that cash is better than credit and cash ain’t a store of value.
Reinke Faces Life 