Monopoly & the "American Dream"...

In class, when we played Monopoly by the rules of America's class structure, I got lucky and rolled the highest number, so I was the upper-upper class. I had a plethora of money to buy whatever I wanted, and I also started with two expensive properties and the railroad. I can clearly see how it is hard to move in classes for the upper and lower class because no matter how careless I was with my money, I was constantly getting paid by the others landing on my properties and with my high income. The lower class people in my group had a very difficult time avoiding bankruptcy let alone moving up in class. One person got stuck in jail, and because they were lower class, they had to miss 2 turns before they could even pay to get out of jail. This mirrors the U.S. class structure so well because it's almost impossible to move classes, unless you are in the middle. No one in my group moved up or down, but some other groups had middle people moving up one class. This is all very interesting because sometimes you think, if lower class people want a better life, all they have to do is start working hard, and they will move up in class. But that's not the case. Most lower class people do work hard, but it's nearly impossible to move up because they are only making minimum wage, living in poor areas, and have no health care or insurance. My family has moved up in class since the past generation. My grandparents on one side were around lower-middle class -- they made an okay living but never could take vacations or live in luxury. But, my dad moved up in social class to upper-middle by going to college and becoming a CPA. Now, we are able to live a nicer life because of a higher income. In the future, I see myself staying in the upper-middle class where my parents are.