Monopoly: The curse of our culture.
On the eve of America's Independance Day, I reflect on the all-american-game Monopoly and have this to write about on the subject.
I really hope this post amuses you, and feel free to share my writings at your next dinner table conversation, or better yet read it aloud before the drone-light-show/fireworks display in your neighborhood. I salute you in advance!
Monopoly: The aim of the “game” is this; Accumulate as many properties as possible, make it so that you can win by diminishing your opponents cash reserve each time they have to land on your land - eventually forcing your “opponent” bankruptcy. Winner takes all. The game is named after the economic concept of a monopoly—the domination of a market by a single entity.
As a shamama, I've been pondering this question...
How did this game shape American minds?
The original game was meant to teach how communal efforts outweigh economic greediness (making it fun with chance and community chest cards), but The Parker Bros changed the game in order to create a more aggressive version, and then they got cozy with The “HasBro” company - go figure! (You gotta look out for your bro’s, right?)
Look around you and see what kind of impact this “game” of land-grabbing has caused.
Young people who are trying to get a higher education in big cities are overwhelmed with living costs. Young adults are moving back in with their parents because their full-time jobs aren’t paying them enough in order to have their own space.
Some people are seeking to extricate themselves from a toxic environment, but cannot afford to, so they stay, developing mental illness and dis-ease.
Meanwhile, there are a good percentage of people who have bought up land, developed housing/hotels/2nd and 3rd unoccupied homes because they got the means to play the game.
Maybe these people are self-made, maybe these people are very important, maybe these people created the system and are reaping the rewards of it. Who knows? All I know is that AirBnB caused a boom in the housing/hospitality sector and the people who have capitalized on land grabbing are having a field day, while young people, families, artists, teachers, service and line-worker industry members are toiling to take a well deserved break at an alarming cost, or are unable to find affordable housing.
The top earning percentages of people enjoy skipping around the world, making decisions that affect the working folk, and the whole thing really stinks to me. But I'm not your normal average person.
Back in the day, before our culture reverted to a neanderthalic policing society, our ancestors shared within their community.
People now-a-days cannot fathom it. I have to teach my 5 yr old daughter about sharing in a world that's become seemingly against it. Here are some scenarios that I've come across:
-Don’t share your lunch because kids may be allergic and maybe their parents had covid while making it.
-I have a mostly un-occupied luxury home in the tropics that I don’t want you to use because your kid might break a chachki collecting dust that cost a pretty penny, so sorry I’m going to with-hold this information from you while you continue to work for me, and knowing that the salary I pay you could not afford such an experience, yet I have this at my disposal - and because I have personal boundaries I can't share this resource or else everyone will want it and then ...."
-I have a tractor, a trailor, a camper, an apartment up North, 3 cars, 2 housing rentals, a 6k sqft mansion at the peak of a mountain, a wine sellar, a bunker with unlimited food supply (that I'll only tell a few select people because when the zombie apocalypse happens we'll be good!), and free access to a private jet that takes me my friends to their 2nd, 3rd, and 4th homes all over the World, but in plain sight you see me pass every beggar I come in close contact with saying "sorry man, I don't have any cash".
Imagine no possession? A wise man once asked.
Remember scrooge? This character is everywhere. Christmas is the one time of year where people give, but what do they really give? Fuel for the capitalistic culture to thrive.
I'm not bitter. I see how it is, and I used to be blind to things in plain sight. Religion has had a funny way of turning faith into commerce.
Some say that money corrupts even the most well-intended people. Greed and power promotes immorality and cowardice.
Welcome to Capitalism: a place where everyone can be bought, and you can sacrifice your morals for your eGo-ic gains, which justifies the means.
This is the system we’re living in.
That’s why politics are so hilarious - everyone knows they’re being fooled most of the time, but no one can pinpoint what’s really going on. It’s an extremely sad circus. Almost as sad as the ones with wild animals on leashes and in cages.
The only way to exit the system is to see it for what it is. A game.
How do you really win though?
I'll give you a clue, it rhymes with caring.
That's right! The answer is sharing!
Share whatever you have that’s abundant whether it's time, love, wisdom, space, food, etc.
Some of the loneliest people are those who have much, but no one to share it with. They lack quality connections, and often fear that they are being used for their wealth. (Well duh, people are brain-washed to become attracted to wealth for a reason….mostly because of the way wealth looks and how fat the margins are to be made).
Some wealthy people are more incognito, they’re not flashy, but knowing they have coffers of cash brings them glee.
They’re probably not a “people-person”. They have CEO's and managers and such who report what the little people are doing through a certain chain of command. You can see how this is the set-up for most corporations, education/penile institutions, and government agencies.
Today while driving, I had this thought “I beg you Monopoly people, humble your eGo’s by getting yourself acquainted with morality based in actual reality. Talk to the people! Eat some Funghi! Listen to the people's concerns before there's a Union formed on the horizon? Learn from France! Get creative, start some humane services!".
Who's gonna listen? (the young, the intelligent, the curious, the wise, the frustrated).
The "top of the food chain" people rarely hear what they need to and often surround themselves with folks who'll tell them what they want to hear - "Job security". The capitalistic throes are where ethics and morality go to die.
After the Soviet collapse, some Russians and “well-connected” foreigners pillaged the country of its resources for a dime. If Karma is real, and you know it is, you see how it’s all playing out now. There is a “filthy” rich dictator who has no grasp of sensibility or reason (that's because he grew up in a horribly abusive environment) and he was elected because of how brainwashed the people are based on the media’s influence, and also a lack of real journalism. Meanwhile we have another imbisil in US politics trying to sit in the big chair in an OVUM shaped office.
The jokes on us, sisters! I want a turn in the OVUM office! Who's in charge? Who do I talk to?
Remember when journalists were being murdered? How haunting. Some very intelligent people have become afraid to tell the truth based on their level of cognition in fear of their lives. Who are the heroes, really? Batman? Spider-Man? Where are you when we really need you? Oh yeah, Marvel has duped us into thinking that someone is coming to save us. Nope! It's all on us, Captian Fantastic!
Now everyone can be a journalist with their phones, although sharing unpopular information won't get you may likes on Instagram (trust me on this one;) The point is it takes courage to poke at shit no one really wants to sniff. Someone's gotta do it though, or else.
Request: Can we put Fungi in the water supply to clean-up our mental act, like in the same ways Fungi cleans up toxic waste? It's such an easy solution to so many problems. I can't possibly be the first person to think of this idea;)
Back to monopoly vs. sharing….
La Medicina helps me with the sharing process tremendously. I can see/feel the process taking root, and although I can’t predict the results of the wise gestures, I know they are always good and reap incredible results. Sharing always gets shared forward.
I learned about sharing during my Shamanic apprenticeship in a way that I never had before. A lot of the teachings I received were based upon the indigenous culture in the Amazonian jungle (the lungs of our planet) and I learned and integrated their beliefs. I practiced giving away precious things to me because of how it was received, how it opened space, how I felt afterwards, and what it brought to my life. This is known as a practice in Eastern philosophy as non-attachment.
What I also learned about was healthy attachment, and how necessary it is to our survival and overall health. The buddha and his teachings were sometimes based in masculine principles, which left out 52% of his potential audience. I, on the other hand, seek to relate to all people;)
The population of indigenous people is at a critical low, and they have answers to the problems that plague our modern societies. Who wants to listen? How do you get in-touch with these people? Will they show you the way?
My teachers were told by their teachers that the reason the indigenous were open to teaching European/North American -folk (for a quality sum of funds in cash and 3 years time in an exchange for an apprenticeship) was because the only way to save the Amazon, which produces 80% of the oxygen on Earth, was to share vital information and reveal oppressive systems - the medicine provides this awareness stunningly. Can you guess why the Amazon is being burnt and chopped to the ground? I’ll give you a hint; land grabs, palm oil, fossil fuels, rubber, corn, soy and cattle farming. What are we gonna do with all those things when we don’t have air to breathe?
If the Maestra/Maestro decided to take you on as a an apprentice, it meant you could maybe carry the medicine … depending on your integrity and even more important yet, the purity of your heart.
During the apprenticeship one takes on many austerities. You give up everything for a time.
It is spiritually sound to take on austerities in order to purify oneself, and to become aware of illusions and false and/or misappropriated beliefs (by parents, schools, media, politics, etc).
In an austere space, the eGo is gently revealed. It has nowhere to hide.
This is yikes for the monopoly people.
The moral of the story is this:
Monopoly is a kaka-mind game based in greed, and packaged as fun.
Being bankrupt is traumatic and terrible and no good for anyone, except a select few.
Owning more than you know what to do with is problematic on many fronts.
If knowing how to play the game to your advantage (because you wrote the rules) creates layers of disadvantages for many, than it’s not an even playing field and that’s cheating. Like how modern-day hunters use semi-automatic weapons to kill, when there’s a freezer full of meat already. That’s not game, that’s bad Karma!
Instead of having Murky Zuckerburger and Elon Husky fight in the colosseum, how about we invite them over to my house and have them disclose the properties they own, and ask them to turn at least a few palaces into healing and support centers for refugee families who are on the brink. Let’s have them invite Putin while we’re at it - I’d love to give Putin a Heroes dose of mushrooms just to see what happens! Maybe he’ll come to his senses…. the possibilities are truly endless!
But first, who's actual friends with them on FaceBook? This Psychedelic Girl would love to get in touch.
Namasté
Marian
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