Many countries, like America, had actual economic mobility. There was a time where working hard could improve your economic status.

My family lost everything. Twice. Once to over-leveraging before a mortgage collapse in 83, and secondly to a house fire. We lived in an absolute fleabag of a moldy motel, a stereotype like you'd see on-screen, for about 10 months. The mold was so bad we had tiny mushrooms.

We got back, both times, to a stable home life in a mortgage and a fresh start. Dad paid off his home before retirement, by working his absolute ass off.

That's just not feasible now, just one generation later.

Anyway, there was a time when hard work did get you something; so treat that as a historical thing and not a falsehood.