1. Which statistic on wealth inequality in the US (discussed on p. 29) made the biggest impression on you? Explain why?

(The top 1 percent own between 40 and 50 percent of the nation’s total wealth.)

This statistic made the biggest impression on me because it’s outrageous that they own that much of the nation’s wealth.  The 1 percent owning about 40% of the nation’s wealth is outrageous. No one in this world should be able to have that much privilege or wealth. More than 38 million people live in poverty, way too many families. If you are not born into generational wealth, not even being self-made will help you reach half of what the 1 percent own. The 1 percent stays rich because of the hard labor they put the working class through. Without exploiting the poor, the rich wouldn’t be where they are now. To be able to expand and keep your company in business, you need more labor.  Overall, the laws and even the tax regulations should be stricter on them.

2. What could be some of the implications of living in a society that has such huge wealth inequalities? Do you see this dynamic getting played out in everyday life in our society? How so? Example?

America has such a huge wealth inequality that the rest of the world wouldn’t even imagine it. The outside world sees the “American Dream,” the world of equal rights and opportunities, when in reality, to pay your bills nowadays, you require more than one job. We see it in our everyday lives: how we have to skip breakfast because there is nothing to eat at home, how a cup of noodles is what keeps us alive until the next day. Basic necessities are becoming a privilege now, where even pads are 10$ a bag now. While the rich sits back and hordes their money and resources.

1. Two key concepts in this video are the means of production and labor. In your comment, explain how you understand the means of production and labor. Give an example of each.

Means of production are the products you use to try to sell a product. Like the camera for the video, or the microphone you use. Another means of production is privately owned capitalist production like google. Labor is the work that you put into the product. The more labor that goes into your work the more value it has.

2. Another important concept in understanding social class is value. Based on the ideas presented in Video 5.1, what is value?  What gives “value” to value, what makes something valuable? 

Value is how much labor it takes to make something under normal circumstances. Value is how much your product is worth by the labor you put into it. For example, if you have a piece of wood the if you do nothing with it the value stays the same, but if you put labor into it the value of the wood becomes different.

3. How are labor and value related? What’s the relationship/connection between the two?

They are different because labor is the work you put into something. Value is what that work is worth. They both need each other to keep the capitalist alive.

4. How do you understand the difference between labor and labor power? Hint: this is a key difference, give it your best shot based on what the video says about it, and your own ideas. We’ll clarify and develop it in our discussions, and in my video comments.

 Labor refers to the physical work one puts into a product while labor power is the capacity of an individual to perform work. It is the potential for labor that a person possesses.

5. Surplus Value: what is it? Why is it important to know about, in our study of social classes? Think about an example of surplus value?

Surplus value is the extra value produced by workers beyond what is required of them. Its capitalism at its truest form. An example of surplus value are all the unions that have been created because employees don’t get fair pay with really long hours, like Amazon or Starbuck’s. The company makes millions of the backs of the workers.

1. Why do think Southern racist politicians chose to frame their defense of racial segregation through the language of “law and order”? What special advantages was this choice of words going to give them?

It was a political strategy, using “law and order” provided a more acceptable way to defend segregation. It allowed politicians a way to show their discriminatory views in a language that seems less racist and more aligned with principles of governance and societal order.  This allowed politicians to communicate their support for segregation to an audience without overly expressing racist views. They used “law and order” to “maintain the status quo.” They used segregation to appeal to conservative sentiments, it suggested that they were upholding legal structures in societal norms, which all conservatives’ voters loved.

2. Do you think the Southern Strategy is still influencing American politics? Give an example supporting your answer.

Yes, 100% yes. Today we see it with the Voter Id problems we’re having. They want to implicate some voter Id laws that will particularly affect African Americans. They say this law will be aimed at preventing voter fraud, but we know that’s not the case. These types of laws are supported by Republicans after an election didn’t turn out their way. They want to stop minorities from going out and expressing their right to vote.

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

One distinction between owners and employees is the way they make money and how they spend it. Owners have their employees work hard for them, while they sit back and make most of the profit. They live off the money they make off the backs of their employees. The employees, on the other hand, live paycheck to paycheck, not being able to pay most of their bills off. The rich make themselves richer by exploiting the poor.

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

Adam Smith explained how social class and capitalism work.  Let’s give the example of amazon, Jeff Bezos created Amazon with a 200,000 loan from his parents. After Amazon became successful, he now has working class working extreme hours with no benefits. This man had an advantaged with the help of his parents, to then exploit the working class to make himself richer. It’s not just Amazon but every big company in America.

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

Class is not an identity. I was born poor and am still poor in what is considered poor in the social class. That is not my identity, nor will it ever be. I have worked hard my whole life and have given myself the education I need. I am a gay Latina woman teacher, THAT is my identity. What we grow up with is not always going to be our future. If you work hard, and don’t make the same mistakes your parents did, I believe you can do better for yourself. Same goes for wealthy people, sometimes the richness that you grow up with can be taken away from you at any moment so to make class our whole identity is just a shame.

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?

The argument basically talks about how each class needs each other in a way. It’s a system that goes in circles. A worker is dependent on capitalism, they need the job to be able to even survive. While the wealthy owners rely on the exploitation of the workers to keep their companies alive.

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?

The similarity between the two is that they talk about social class, and how social class affects every part of our life, from the subway to the schools we go to. The difference between the two is that 4.1 talks about the different levels of social class, while 4.2 talks about how about how our environment, education, and everything around us affects our social class.

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 closest train station I have will be Court Sq here in Queens. The social class that tends to live around here is people with money. From the fact that I have a Trader Joe’s in front of my house and how expensive the rent is, you can tell. Everyone around here has to easily make more than 100,000 to be able to afford life here. When I was living deeper in Queens, like Jackson Heights, the household median would definitely go down.

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

There are many general patterns about social class that you can notice. The fact is that it is so expensive to live in the areas that are closest to the train. If you have Whole foods or Trader Joes around, you know what kind of area you live in. The deeper you go into the boroughs the difference you’ll see. The wealthy New Yorkers like to say there’s no social class, but the fact that they can live in 1,000 square foot apartments paying 4,000 a month while we can barely afford to keep up.

1.Repressive State apparatus is a way to control you through the threat of violence including the police, courts, and prisons.  This will always be in favor of the ruling class. Repressive means restraining the freedom of a person or group of people. This keeps the ruling class in power by repressing the subordinate social classes as require. Even if it means using violent or nonviolent coercive means.

2. Ideology State Apparatuses are put in place to prevent change to the status quo. Politics allows the status quo to remain because it feels like they are giving you a choice on who you pick to govern us. They want us to feel like we have responsibility towards the society we live in. Even though at the end it feels like the parties don’t have anything different between them. We live in a society where we think we have free will, but we are still controlled through media, school and even in the sports we watch. They don’t want us to rebel and change the status quo so they make sure to keep us in this bubble.

3. They are completely different. Repressive State Apparatuses are meant to keep us in fear, so we are obedient. Ideology State Apparatuses is the way they keep us controlled.  Repressive keeps the citizens in check. After teaching us discipline all our lives, we now have to suffer the consequences if we break the laws we are taught to follow. Ideology State Apparatuses starts when we are kids, school is the perfect example to teach discipline. At school we are taught to raise our hands for us to talk if you’re tardy you get detention. We are taught how to be good abiding citizens. Even the classrooms are a way to prepare us for all the future meetings will have. Another reason for Ideology State Apparatuses is to not create rebels, we want society and the status quo not to change, so they give us things to keeps us entertain. We would rather say we’re fans of a sports team than say we are to protest against the bad conditions we work in.

1.Ideology is accepting beliefs that you believe in without knowing you believe in them. Ideology is the way you think about yourself, and others in the society you live in. Your political beliefs contribute to this century’s ideology. It’s meant to keep you in the group you were born in. Even though ideology now has many different factors that can change our views. Between school, social media, and entertainment.

Ideology in my opinion is knowing what you believe in, and always allowing yourself to grow, and question those beliefs you grew in. Our social construct and culture determine the ideology we believe in.

2. Conservative ideology is meant to help themselves. They believe that the government should be a small group of people cause the larger it is, the less they trust them. They also believe that the government would be better off being run by the states and localities. This is meant to control the population better and keep themselves in control of the country. They want lower taxes, better nation defense, but when it comes to things like schools and other resources citizens need should have their budgets reduced. Liberals on the other hand, believe the government should be able to solve societies problem. Liberals believe in regulations in the economy, that taxing the rich is the right thing. Higher taxes mean helping the environment and those in need. Liberals want everyone to have the same rights, to have the same resources.

The dividing line between them is humanity. Conservatives are more prone to want regulations against things that don’t benefit them, like cutting funds into public schools knowing their kids go to private schools. Liberals want to tax the rich, then conservatives want less taxes because it means more money in their pockets.

3. I agree with Althussers definition of ideology. His ideology shows us how we are meant to stay in the society we are born in without us even knowing it. The need for us to be accepted and longing for a group will drive us to keep those same beliefs we have. It’s a very capitalist ideology. Those of conservative ideology are mostly born into money, and Christian religion. Liberal’s ideologies are those of low income communities which makes them sympathize with everyone. For fear of being shamed, and turned away from the individual will keep the same ideology. There are things like school that will teach you discipline, that you will use in later life. They control us into being good citizens from when we are little kids. If we don’t follow those ideologies, things like police, courts and even prison come into consideration. It’s honestly a way to control us all.

1. M. Alexander claims that the main explanation of why so many people are sent to jail in the U.S. today is deeply wrong. Explain her argument by referring to the various examples she mentions to backup her point. (see p. 1-2)
    Alexander argued that the War on Drugs targeted the African American and Latino communities. The aggressive policing and harsh sentencing led to a significant increase in the incarceration of individuals for nonviolent drug offenses. It’s a way to keep Jim Crow alive without it actually being alive. She emphasizes the racial disparities within the criminal justice system, highlighting how African American and Latino individuals are more likely to be stopped, arrested, and sentenced to longer prisons terms compare to their white counterparts for similar offenses.

2. Why is it that racial disparities in the rates of incarceration “cannot be explained by rates of drug crimes”?

It cannot be explained by rates of drug crimes because every type of race commits the same type of crimes. The difference is that African American and Latino communities are incarcerated for smaller crimes than their white counter parts. People of color can easily end up in jail for selling a pound of a weed, while their white counterparts will be sent to rehab.

3. How do you understand the phrase: “the American penal system has emerged as a system of social control unparalleled in world history.”?

The American penal system is completely different than anything we have seen around the world.  The incarceration rates are like no other, we have the most incarcerated people in the world. American has a bigger range of criminal laws and the big extent of the law enforcement activities. It’s not a way to enforce law but a way to control the same population they were trying to keep as slaves.