1. To me, production and labor are the two factors that set a product’s value. Labor being the time or effort that it takes to produce some goods, and production, which is the whole process itself. Example: a person who works a 8 hour shift everyday in exchange for a payment. 

2. Value is what gives a product a final price. What gives “value” to value is the amount of labor that takes to make that product. As the video explained, the more labor is put into something’s production, the more valuable it is going to be the product. 

3. Labor and value are linked because labor is the amount of time that people’s works to get a product done. In that case the value of that product is going to be determined by how much work/labor it took to get it done. 

Labor and labor power are different because labor itself is just the process by which a person works. On the other hand, power labor is the ability that someone has  to put themselves to work.

4. Surplus value is the process  by which you have to work more than the hours that you need to do per day to complete your shift. Its like an extra value or an extra work that you have to do in order to complete your shift even thigh, you just need a few hours to complete the amount of money that you actually needed. Surplus value is important to our study because it helps us to determine how classes are developed according to this concept.

1. The statistics that made the biggest impression of me was “The top 1 percent own between 40 and 50 percent of the nation’s total wealth.” That surprised me a lot because if we think of this carefully we get to understand that the 1% is just a few families of the entire nation’s population. That made me realize the system of inequality in which we all are living it. It made me think that the system itself it’s also a huge factor that contributes so few folks (the 1%) maintain their fortune. That is why I believe that becoming a rich person is just getting impossible for people that are not born into a wealth’s family.

2. Some of the implications of living in a society with such huge inequalities are reflected in a lot of aspects of our daily lives. We can see those impacts inside of our criminal justice system, our education system, and even the health insurance care too. It’s not a secret that being a wary person gives you a lot of privileges that working class folks don’t count on. From getting a better education to getting to live in a safe neighborhood are just some of the factors that play a huge role depending if you’re a wealthy person or not. 

The M-C-M diagram showed us how companies’ owners be working in order to remain wealthy. The diagram explained how they used some strategies like making people work shifts of 8 hours. What happens there is that actually workers are just getting paid just for 4 of those 8 hours. The diagram discusses how by the time workers complete 4 hours, capitalists already have the value of the commodities produced. M stands for money which is transformed into capital according to the diagram. That is precisely how capitalist maintain their wealth by implementing the M-C-M formula working in order to produce their goods.

Hi Nino! Agree with you. I actually liked your responses I totally agree with your point on question #3 about how our income shouldn’t be a factor that determines one’s identity. As you explained, income is not connected to one’s thoughts, abilities, or behavior. What people generate yearly financially speaking, should be seen as a factor of identity.

Hi Sady!! Totally agree with your responses. Just as you mentioned, income and education are some of the very important factors that contribute to determining one’s income. About the subway station response, I do believe that of course, in NYC social class people tend to have a pattern when it comes to their decision of where to live. Lower Manhattan, we all can agree, is one of their favorite places lol.

1. What is the distinction that Reading 4.3 makes between owners and employees? Give an example of each.

According to the reading the distinction between owners and employers is clear. Employers have to work to live. On the other hand, we have the owning class who are characterized because they have people who make the work for them. An example of this could be the case of a truck driver that works for a company like Amazon. That person has to get up every day and work in order to earn his/her salary. However, Jeff Bezos, who is the owner of Amazon, doesn’t have to be working a certain amount of hours to maintain his business running. That is because workers are doing the hard part for him for a minimum salary that doesn’t compare not even a little with his actual fortune.

2. How do you understand the quote by Adam Smith on pg. 28? What is it saying about labor?

I believe that what this statement means is that labor is what can really stomate the prices of certain goods and services. To me, I think that labor should be the factor that should be evaluated in order to establish prices. As the quote explains ” [It is their real price; money is their nominal price only.”

3. What are your thoughts on the main argument of Reading 4.4 that class is NOT an identity?

I agree with this actually. Before I started reading this article I thought that class has something to do with one’s dentistry somehow. However, when I started going through the reading I realized that it doesn’t. Class is an indicator of one’s income, location, education, and a lot of factors that are the ones that actually determine if we are part of one class or another. Another Thought comes from the next quote ““What you have determines what you get” and “What you have determines what you have to do to get what you get.” (Wright, p 3). That is clearly one of the most important factors that distinguishes a worker from an owner too. Is the fact that we should think about what we all have ro do in order to get our incomes/salary every week. That is precisely, an indicator of our class to me. Just as the article explained, if you have to work to get paid you’re on the other side (the working class one). I also understand that things like gender or race are the only factors that determine one’s class either. Each one could have a little impact in constructing your class but it doesn’t really.

4. How do you understand the argument Reading 4.4. makes when stating that “class structures are built around a close form of dependency”? What is this close form of dependency, and can you think of an example?

To me, it means that class is a huge indicator of how much independent one is. For example, If I am an employer working for a company, I know that I have to stick to my schedule. I have to be on time, and get into my workplace everyday. This in some way is inferring my independence a little bit. If I didn’t have to work, I could perfectly do whatever I want with my day. I could enjoy and live by following my own routine. I wouldn’t have to follow a schedule or anything like that. This is to me, what independence means in this quote.  

1. Do you notice any similarities in the way social class is discussed in readings 4.1 and 4.2? Do you notice any differences in the way these two readings DIFFERENTIATE between social classes?

After going over readings 4.1 and 4.2, I noticed some differences in how social class is discussed on each one. In the first reading it explains how people often perceive themself as a higher class than what is actually their class position. In that reading I noticed that even though some people had a low income that ranged in a lower class, they still perceive themself as middle class. When I was seeing the graph of the NYC subway I was so surprised at how the scales of income vary according to every station that I clicked on. That made me confirm that the place where you live has a lot to do with your class. I also linked the two readings by the fact that many of the people who identified himself as middle class actually live near those stations where the income is according to a lower class household. 

2. Pick the station closest to where you live. Using the concepts from Reading 4.1, what social class tends to live in your neighborhood? Are you surprised (or not) by the answer? Do you feel it is an accurate representation of the people living in your neighborhood?

The station closest to where I live is Castle Hill Ave. The social class that tend to live in my neighborhood are people who rank in a lower class. I’m actually not surprised by this fact, or maybe a little. I thought that maybe it was going to be in the middle class. That is exactly what the first reading explained about how people often perceived their class in an unrealistic way. I really thought that it was going to be middle class. However, when I looked up at my subway station, I noticed that there is actually a lower class population that lives in my neighborhood. On the other hand, I believe that it may be an accurate representation of the population that lives in my neighborhood. 

3. Based on Reading 4.2, do you notice a general pattern about social classes in NYC?

I think that the general pattern about social classes in NYC is that the people with a higher income are concentrated in the Lower Manhattan area. Other classes with lower incomes are most likely to live in the upper side, Bronx, Queens, and so on.

Hi Mallory! First thing first, what a powerful post! I liked your responses and every example that you used to explain your thoughts. The example about the police and how it is designed as a repressive apparatus was a very good way to explain that idea. Now, let me talk about the example that you used for question number 4, girl!! That song was powerful, a very good example of a sign of protest to the society that we live in today, I totally loved it. Very good Mallory!

Hi Kelsey!! Agree with your post. I liked how you described ideology as a structure. I used the same word to describe it, lol. I also liked your example of an ideology and how you used the concept of abortion as part of your example. Very good, loved your responses!!

1. The repressive apparatus controls people’s decisions by using the threat violence as Althusser explains in his video. He points out fear as the factor that holds people back from doing what is against their actual interest. For example, let’s say that my ideology is against high taxes and inflation. Even though I’m not in favor of those factors, as a good citizen I’m going to keep paying and reporting my taxes. This shows that no matter what I believe in, I’m going to remain doing the “good things” cause I don’t want to end up in jail. 

2. For the Ideological State Apparatuses, Althusser brings a massive institution which is ¨schholl. He explains how schools are one of the most powerful ideological apparatus since they are mandatory for everyone. They seem to work by giving everyone a schedule to follow, an authority to respect/obey. All of this, in order to shape people’s choices so everyone would have to respect the one on top or the authority.

3. The state apparatus system teaches people to follow the rules and to remain doing good. On the other hand, the repressive apparatus appears to hold us from not breaking the rules that are imposed within the state apparatus system. By using fear to be incarcerated and confront the law, the repressive apparatus then maintains people to act far from what they actually desire to do.

4.https://shorturl.at/bjJ13 This link is a piece written by Patrick M. Whitehead where he describes how “schools” are an important example of an ideological state apparatus. He used a picture where a school is behind jail bars portrayed as “jails.”