Nick Colaco 11/22/15

Today's class was based around an activity involving splitting the class into 4 groups and having them compete in a capitalistic challenge to see who came out on top. All the groups were given the similar tasks which involved using paper to create various objects. Every group was given starting materials, but some groups were given more to begin with than other groups, which gave them an inherent advantage.

Did your group achieve success today? How do you know?
Our group was successful in that we were the first group to complete all the tasks in the project. For our group, the requirements were to build a home that was 2"x 2" with a roof that had a 3" long side, create a burger with 3 different sheets of paper that was no more that 4" x 4" and create a book that told a story. All our groups were allowed to trade with other groups to get materials that they needed to create their objects. We were lucky because our group was given most of the materials that we required to complete the project, where as other groups relied heavily on what they could trade for. We were also successful because we won and will get bagels.

What helped your group to succeed? What held you back?
The most important factor in our success was that right out the gate we were given most of the materials that we required for our builds while other groups were given far less and had to trade with other groups. The fact that we had our essential materials from the start allowed us to get to work on all of our builds immediately rather that waiting until we could find another group to trade us to get the materials that we need.  Our group wasn't really held back by anything other than needing to trade for one type of paper that we weren't  given to begin with, but once  we had traded for the paper we were free to work and complete our task.

What does our experiment reveal about success in capitalism/ The American Dream?
This experiment highlighted that the fantasy that if you work hard and follow the rules you will be successful no matter who you are is just that, a fantasy. This showed that even if you work hard, often times your success is not determined only by the work you put in, but by what opportunities you were given to work with. Our group today was very privileged in that we were given almost all the materials that we needed from the start, once we traded to get the little more we needed we were able to get to work and not worry about trying to acquire the necessary materials to complete the tasks.  This advantage mirrors the advantages that the upper class enjoys in life. If you are born into a family that has money, can afford higher education, lives in a more affluent town then chances are good that you will be successful with out much hassle. However if you are born into a family with not a lot of money, cant afford college, lives in a town with sub-optimal education, then chances are it will be a lot harder for you to be as successful as the kid born in the rich family. This was shown in our experiment because the group that began with most of the materials that they needed was able to finnish quickly while the other groups that were given less to start with struggled to keep up.