The truth is that most children follow rules if they are fair. Kids like order, or structure, as long as it’s not oppressive. But they can sniff out the fix, the rigged game, better than many political scientists and economists. Look at how the young people in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries have managed to call their despots’ bluffs.
However friendly and interactive that Monopoly tower might seem, maybe our own kids will work together to do an end run around the authoritarian monolith in the center of their world. And after they’ve torn down that huge plastic hegemon, they can all pass Go and head to the kitchen for equal shares of oatmeal cookies.