The Global Citizen is a joint project of New Voices and the American Jewish World Service (AJWS). Throughout the year, a group of former AJWS volunteers will offer their take on global justice, Judaism and international development. Opinions expressed by Global Citizen bloggers do not necessarily represent AJWS.
The book One Nation, Underprivileged talks about a monopoly game.
The author compares the American economy to a new board setup, dealt crisp by the banker. Wouldn’t it feel nice to begin the game with the fresh air of optimistic possibility, bills in hand, ready to buy unclaimed land? But we must make the metaphor accurate, explains Mark Rank. You, Player 1, you get to start with a whopping $5000 and some deeds already in hand. Player 2, you’ll be at the standard $1500. And Player 3, you are stuck with $250. Ready? Get set? Go!
So who’s going to win? Rank makes the point in his book that it is possible, feasible, just barely plausible, that someone born into disadvantage could rise above the circumstances and win. But it’s about as likely as winning Monopoly in the previous example. In the United States, we tend to focus on the personal qualities of the losers: “Oh, he should have been more excited about buying Boardwalk. And she should have given up landing on Community Chest a while ago.” We forget that the game is set up to produce losers. No matter how good we are, someone’s got to lose. As Faigy put it in her recent New Voices blog post: “Where is the net benefit of social justice work in a system that must replace those who are upwardly mobile by moving others downward?”
The game, it seems, is global. In The Impact of Water Privatization on South African Women, Meredith Throop talks about an incredible phenomenon. Women who traditionally had gone daily to fetch water for their families suddenly found themselves counting money and allowances from the government. This cut down on sharing. No longer could I help you fetch your water on days when you were sick; my allowances only covered my and my family. No need to guess who inspired the privatizing of the water supply.
So, as Jews, why should we care? Well, aside from Rabbi Hillel’s universal morality that encourages me to do unto others as I’d want them to do unto me, our Jewish texts encourage cooperation and community. Leviticus 25:35 teaches us that “If your kinsman becomes boor and falters with you, you should strengthen him; whether he is a stranger or a settler he should live with you.”
How can we change the game, you ask? It’s larger than any of us. Countless brilliant souls have struggled and failed to redistribute our monopoly money. I strongly encourage you to avoid bashing your head against the walls of inequality that continue to exist in America. Instead, I’ve chosen to take the words of the Torah to heart. As part of an intentional community in St. Louis, I have chosen to live with friends and strangers in a cooperative environment. We strengthen each other, we fetch each other water, and we acknowledge the paradox that tells us that some Americans must lose in order for others to win. If you are interested, investigate your local co-op opportunities! In the meantime, consider a rainwater catchment system for your hotels on Park Place.
