Shames Essay

Shames Essay

Consuming the American Frontier"

The original settlers of this country were optimistic speculators. They hoped that America held the promise of a better life and the freedom to live the way they chose. Relocating your entire family to "The "New World" was a gamble. The trip itself was fraught with danger but, the colonists need for more for themselves became the drive that set aside fear and reason for the hopeful achievement of their goal. These are the "American ancestors". These were a different kind of breed, who colonized this country, and Americans continue their legacy of the pioneering spirit through subsequent generations.

Today, there is no literal new frontier. The vast open space that was America is now a well-developed landscape.

Shames II

Owning property, having lots of money, and running a

thriving business are parts of the American ideas of

success. They are also parts of the board-game Monopoly.

The ideas of prosperity within Monopoly remain throughout

childhood, and into the adult life. The result of this

creates a culture of people in the business world with the

desires for more of the now real objects found in Monopoly.

The basic ideas behind Monopoly are the same concepts of

the essay "The More Factor" by Laurence Shames. In his

essay Shames argues that the expansion of the frontier and

acquisition of land has moved on to possession of material

goods and economic growth as symbols of American success.

Each of these has its equivalent in Monopoly. Success in

the game is defined by owning the most property so as to

acquire more money, to build material things, like houses

and hotels, ultimately resulting in the financial

destruction of your opponents. This type of success is an

example of the way "more" works. Shames says that if a

person has the strive to obtain more land or money his

apparent success will also be greater. In Monopoly the

player with the most drive to own more property will

succeed. In the spirit of the more-driven frontiersmen who

succeeded by sweeping away the Indians and Mexicans, the

more-driven Monopoly player easily crushes his opponents by

acquiring the most ! land. In other words, the

"More-Factor" that Shames describes is the determining

element when deciding who is the champion of the game.

Monopoly can also be equated to Barthes' essay "Toys" when

he states that toys "are essentially a microcosm of the

adult world." Although the United States currently has

anti-monopoly laws, the game still accurately represents

the American business world. The goals and ideas of success

in Monopoly are also present in the world of business,

where the main objective is to make more money than the

competition, eventually leading to a hold on the market.

But Monopoly's representation of adult life does not stop

with the business world. All Americans, no matter what

profession they are in, hold some of the dreams within

Monopoly, although not to the extremity of the game. We all

hope to someday possess our own property. With this land we

continue to improve it; not necessarily by adding more

houses or hotels, but still changing it into something more

than when we first acquired it. Another dream that

Americans commonly hold is to continually make more money.

Like in Monopoly, we use this money to buy a piece of land

or a house; or to pay for the use of another person's land.

Ultimately though, the goals of real life and Monopoly are

the same; to earn money, own land, and not go bankrupt

before the game is over. Finally Monopoly could be used to

aid Prager when she argues that toys shape the goals,

ideas, and virtues of a child's future. The main thing that

a child acquires by playing Monopoly is value. He learns

that money is something that has great value, and without

it he will lose. He also discovers that it is wise to save

money for any unexpected occurrence (like landing on your

opponent's space.) He learns about the value of property.

Since owning land is the only way to win in Monopoly, a

youth that plays it will obtain a respect for property, and

its value in American culture. Likewise children learn the

ways of business. They unknowingly pick up the basics of

the free enterprise system of America. Monopoly helps them

to make better business deals, and that not all thing,

although similar

...