Some people think Americans are too materialistic

 

Some people think that Americans are too materialist.  I think that it is just the way we were raised.  When we were kids we played a lot of board games that taught us to be materialistic.  In Monopoly, there is a community chest card that says, “you have won second prize in a beauty contest, collect $10.”  The community chest card didn’t say how winning second place in a beauty contest makes you feel good or how it is good for your self esteem.  In Monopoly all that matters is money.   

Or in the board game LIFE, when you got married, all you do is put a little peg in your car.  And of course it is your car and not you and your peg’s car.  The only way the game LIFE could make marriage anymore lifeless, is if the pegs didn’t have little round heads.   

Or in the board game Shoots and Ladders, you are only allowed to move forward or backward, and it is against the rules to be happy and content with where you are.