The Times Are Changing

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On Monday, the Royal Canadian Mint stopped making pennies, and today we find out that we will no longer be able to slide an iron around the Monopoly board. The game piece has been replaced by a cat (LOL).

With its duck dollars, polar bear-emblazoned toonies, and flammable bills, Canada has been messing around with its currency for decades, so the decision on the penny is no real surprise (it's been planned for a while).

But it's harder to understand the decision to axe the iron. Monopoly's been around forever; the references to real places or things are now lost on players; the game is, in essence, a closed system. Messing with it upsets the balance, destroys the illusion of its timelessness, the sense that when you play, you are in a world all its own: Monopolyland.

And to put a cat in there, well that's just stupid.



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