The Endgame of Capitalism

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/279-82/15845-the-endgame-of-capitalism

The board game "Monopoly" was originally invented in the early 20th century to warn players of the dangers of free market capitalism. The original title was "The Landlord Game," made to show how property owners exploit their tenants with exorbitant rent. The game eventually evolved to include rules that let players charge higher rent if they owned all the railroads or the utility companies. But the endgame scenario of Monopoly is a lot like the endgame of capitalism that we're witnessing today - no matter how the game starts, the wealth will eventually accumulate in the hands of one player, while the other players have to sell off their property to pay their debt to the owner and, eventually, lose everything they have.

The Dow recently closed above 14,000, the highest it's ever been since October of 2007. While the financial pundits on CNBC would use this figure to have us believe the economy is bouncing back better than ever, the only ones sharing in the benefit of a healthy market are the wealthy investor class and corporations that have been insulated from the effects of the recession that still continues for the rest of us. The influx of high-frequency trading that now makes up half of all trading signifies the change of using the market as a vehicle for making long-term investments to manipulating it for short-term profit.