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OBJECTIVE //: To explore the relationships between wealth, power and fairness.
TIME // 60-90 minutes
GROUP SIZE // 6 people or more
MATERIALS // 100 pennies, nickels or buttons (or similar sized object)
HOW TO PLAY //
Part A: The Scramble
1. The game should be played in a large area to provide participants with plenty of room to move around.
Invite all participants stand in a circle and place the pennies in the middle (or scatter the pennies around the
room to create a fun scavenger hunt-like game).
2. Explain to the group that they will be distributing the world’s wealth amongst themselves. The total
wealth is represented by the 100 pennies that are either in the middle of the room or hidden for the scavenger hunt.
3. Tell the group that when the game begins, they can start collecting their wealth by gathering pennies.
Specify that no participant may touch another participant to impede their collection of wealth or steal their
pennies. Also inform them that fines will be imposed for such contact (the amount is at the leader’s discretion).
4. Explain that just like in the real world, not all people have equal opportunity to get what they want. To
create these unfair conditions:
i.
Give a few participants mittens to wear, and give others gloves.
ii. If pennies are in the middle, give 1-2 participants large spoons, spatulas or sandbox shovels to make
collecting pennies easier.
iii. If conducting a scavenger hunt: give 1 participant a map to a secret stash of pennies.
iv. Consider withholding a few participants from the scramble by moving them to the side of the room and
asking them to stay there.
5. Tell the group the scramble continues until all pennies are picked up (or after 3-5 minutes according to
the difficulty of your scavenger hunt), and tell them what signal will be given when the time is up. Begin the
scramble with a countdown.
6. After the scramble have participants report their wealth to the group. Once reported, divide the participants into 3 groups according to their wealth – the number of pennies necessary for entrance into each
group will change depending on your group size : aim for these proportions:
a. Greatest Wealth – smallest group – 5% of participants
b. Some Wealth – medium group – 20 % of participants
c. Little wealth – largest group – 75% of participants
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7. Remind everyone that the pennies represent their wealth. The amount they possess affects their capacity to satisfy their needs and wants. Ask the group to give examples of needs (food, shelter, water, health care,
education, clothing, etc), and of wants (toys, smart phones, televisions, cars, etc.). Discuss what this means
for each group’s ability to satisfy their needs and wants.
8. Explain that often, the population within a country has similar economic circumstances. For example,
average Canadians tend to have more wealth than average Brazilians. However, there are individuals and
groups who, for a variety of reasons, lack access to their basic needs even in wealthy countries, and there are
some people in poor countries that have great wealth. To represent this, move a few participants between
groups so that each economic group has 1-2 people from the other economic groups.
Part B: Creating Fairness
1. Ask each group to create a plan that would ‘fairly’ distribute the pennies (the world’s wealth). Let them
know that after their small group discussion, they will share their plan with the whole group, explaining what
needs to be done and why their plan is fair. Give the groups 5-10 minutes to create their plan. Circulate
among the groups and intervene as necessary:
a. You may have to prompt creative discussion; do this by asking the group if the current distribution is fair
and what makes it fair, to help them determine what their concept of fair is.
b. If a group move too easily towards substantial changes or equal distributions, prompt them to consider
what sharing their resources would mean in real life. Examples might include: Giving up a cell phone or never getting a car, giving up their house to share a 1-2 bedroom apartment with their whole family, or eating
rice every day.
2. Have a spokesperson from each group explain their plan. After all plans have been presented, a vote will
be held to decide which plan to adopt for all participants.
3. Explain that there is a link between wealth and power. While some have achieved great influence without wealth, global trends are that those with great wealth attain power.
4.
Announce that voting will take place as follows:
a. Participants who have great wealth are each counted as 10 votes
b. Participants with some wealth are each counted as having 2 votes.
c. Participants with little wealth are each counted as having 1 vote.
5.
Conduct the vote by raised hand and calculate the results.
Possible addition:
Corruption: Ask if those with ‘great wealth’ are satisfied with the outcome of the vote. If not, allow them to
try to purchase the votes of those with little wealth before proceeding to a 2nd round of voting.
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6. Announce which plan wins the vote, and carry out the winning plan, redistributing wealth if/
as necessary.
7. Review the new distribution of wealth, and its implications for everyone to meet their needs and their
wants.
8.
Ask those who are happy with the outcome to raise their hands.
Part C: Debrief the Activity
Collect the pennies and gather the group back together. Discuss together their experience of this game and
what it can teach us. Some of the following questions may be helpful:
About the experience:
1)
How did you feel during the scramble for pennies?
o
Were you treated fairly?
o
What real life advantages or disadvantages might the mittens, gloves, scoops, or map represent?
o
How did you feel when you saw how the pennies were divided among the group?
o
How did members of different wealth groups feel about their situation?
On wealth and power:
2)
What is the relationship between power and wealth? Have the group share examples of how they see
this in their lives. You may use some of the following prompts or adapt them as needed or appropriate to your
group:
o
Have they, or have their friends had to forgo social events or school clubs because they had to work
after school or on weekends? Do all students face this challenge? What impact do these have on the students, their studies, their friendships, their opportunities?
o
Do all people have equal opportunity to have their story and viewpoint heard? On the Internet, how
do we distinguish credible information from false information and marketing?
o
What impact does fashion and new technology have on our perception of authority? Do we give the
same attention and respect to someone who always wears the same old outfit and uses an old laptop as we
do to the person who has many new outfits and the latest gadgets?
o
If there has been a recent election: Did all candidates have equal publicity, did we even know the
name of all the candidates? Why or why not? Why does name recognition matter?
o
If the UN Security Council, G7/8 or G20 been in the news: Who are members of these groups? How
did they become members? What kind of power do these groups hold?
3)
How do those without wealth exercise power? Who are influential or powerful people who are not
wealthy? How did they gain their power?
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4)
How do we feel about the analogy of the wealthy having more votes? What do we think about this
analogy in relation to the real world?
5)
In Canada, each citizen has the right to vote. How do the factors we have just discussed affect our
idea of democracy? What do we have to do to responsibly exercise our voting rights?
On Fairness:
6)
What criteria help us determine what is fair?
7)
What is a ‘fair’ distribution of wealth?
8)
Who are the “haves” and “have nots” in our country today? Our world? Our community?
9)
Should those with wealth be concerned about those without? Why or why not?
10)
Do you think there should be a more equal distribution of wealth and power around the world?
Why?
11)
What can we do here in Canada to help bring about a fair and just distribution of resources?
Suggest ideas such as voting in elections, getting involved with a community group or with a political party,
participating in Development and Peace campaigns and THINKfasts!
* Adapted from ‘Economic Justice: The Scramble for Wealth and Power’, University of Minnesota Human Rights Resource Center. http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/edumat/hreduseries/tb1b/Section2/activity2.html*
Written by Sherry Kempf and David Shiman, Center for World Education, University of Vermont. Adapted from S. Lamy, et
al, Teaching Global Awareness with Simulations and Games, (Denver: Center for Teaching International Relations,
University of Denver, 1994).