Discussion board 13-Anivel Espinal Fernandez

1.Martin Luther King believes that a just law is a man-made code that follows a moral law .However, an unjust law is a law that disrupts that man-made code because we have to understand that this is about morality .A unjust law hurts the community of who is targeted because they have to follow it without consent and essentially it affects their morality and those around them . An unjust law doesn’t respect those people’s morality or dignity .

    2.I Believe that identifying the difference between an unjust and a just law is important because it protects those that understand it .As human beings it is crucial to identify what impairs your moralities and the way you carry yourself in your day to day basis .On the bigger picture is not only about following rules but identifying what makes a country or community better , what brings peace and connection instead of separation and unfairness .This distinction does affect politics because it inspire social movements that shake up politics .

    3.Jim Crow laws were unjust laws because they targeted a specific group and made them feel inferior to others , intentionally sabotaging their morals and the way they could live their lives .Later on this unjust law greeted movements that made a change not only in this country but all around the world . A just law protects people’s morals .For example , the 8th amendment prohibits excessive bail, fines, and cruel punishment defending people’s fairness and moralities because you are innocent until proven guilty; this amendment protected you from being treated unfairly under the law.  

    Wal-mart stores inc v. Dukes Anivel espinal Fernandez

    1. What did the Supreme Court decide in the Wal-Mart case? And more importantly, how did it justify its decision? (HINT: the key word here is “commonality” (and how it related to “class-action lawsuit”). Try to understand what this legal terms means, as it is key to the court’s decision).
      In the War-mart v. Dukes case, the U.S.  supreme court ruled against the plaintiff .The U.S. The Supreme Court claimed that Betty Dukes and the other women didn’t meet the requirements for the class action lawsuit due to not following rule 23 of the federal rules of civil procedure . The U.S. Supreme Courtount found that this women lacked the “commonality” required for the lawsuit since this women problems weren’t all allied and consisted .Therefore, to have a good class action lawsuit the plaintiffs should have a “commonality”.However , the plaintiffs did share one problem which was sex discrimination ,but this women had different experiences working at Wal-mart. According to the plaintiff , their “commonality” was their experiences of sex discrimination and men favoritism within the Wal-Mart company but all of the women did not share the same problem . Due to this the U.S. supreme court decided not to move forward with the lawsuit. 

    Discussion board 9.2-Anivel Espinal Fernandez

    1.Traditional wars involve a physical battle between two groups in a specific place and target . In P.Williams essay she explained that war on terror is a new type of war because is a battle of hate ,The conflict is not about a country but about a group of unidentified people that are labeled as your enemy to your personal ideology .In my opinion this can be a bit racist or absurd since this can target a specific race. For example,after 9/11 many people see arabians as threats just because a specific group of arabians decided to attack a country . War on terror is a never ending war because people judge individuals with different ideologies than them, sometimes even see those people as a threat.

    2.The roving wiretaps violate the 4th amendment because the 4th amendment protects a citizen from having unreasonable searches . Roving wiretaps is a warrant that an law enforcement officer obtains to “hack” your device but generally not only your device but in fact any device that has your both since some people tend to have more than one device.Therefore, roving wiretaps violates the 4th amendment because surveillance a person’s everymove without a probable cause.
    3. The “sneak and peek” warrant violates the 4th amendment because the 4th amendment protects the right of a citizen to be present during a search or being notified on time of search . The sneak and peek warrant gives law enforcement officers the ability to search your house without you being there meaning that they don’t have to notify you immediately.

    Discussion board 9.1- Anivel Espinal Fernandez

    1.The United states it’s a very diverse country filled with multiple religions .The establishment clause within the 1st amendment generally means that in the United States it’s prohibited to favor or show a religion of preference . The favoritism can lead to chaos and conflict between the people of the United States .For example , if the United States promoted a catholic religion people would see this religion as a superior religion.The lemon test is used to determine if the government violated the establishment clause .

    2.No, the United States flag is not protected by the first amendment after Texas v. Johnson case since the first amendment protects our symbolic speech . In fact, The burning of the united states flag is controversial since it shows a form of disrespect towards the united states but also it was marked as unconstitutional since this protestor rights had to be protected .Even Though the burning of the flag seems offensive for some people the court made it clear that the defendant form of expression had to be protected no matter if it was offensive .

    3.When a person says “i’m taking the fifth “ it means that they will stay quiet and not respond to anything since it can incriminate the defendant .However , for most criminals would say that they desire to speak with their attorney before making a statement .The fifth amendment is important to protect legal incrimination.

    Discussion 6.2-Anivel Espinal Fernandez

    1. In federalist paper #10 it’s discusses the term “faction” and this reminds me of the American society structure(social class).

    2.According to James Madison, the source of wealth comes from the term “faculties of men”.Madison believe that you’re borned with the wealth and if you are not borned from wealth you’re mentally and intellectually inferior meaning that those majorities meaning men with no property ,slaves,and servants have a low “faculties of men” and they don’t have the mental capacity to become wealthy . The diversity of property originates from the beliefs that diversity leads to an unequal distribution of property because some people lack skills(faculties of men) and opportunities .

    3.Honestly I’m a stressed sideliner about these beliefs because yes being borned from wealth gives you more opportunities and “skill” but also in my opinion in this generation this doesn’t mean you’re intellectually inferior to somebody in a higher class status than yours .However, From The racist perspective in the century that the federalist #10 was written. It’s understandable to believe that people with low social status are mentally inferior .In the 18th century the Aristocracy (higher class status ) believed that you had to use your opportunities to your advantage like owning slaves to make you wealthy .

    4.According to James Madison, The US core mission is maintaining social class order and protecting property because the higher class were scared that the majority meaning lower income people with less “faculties of men” break the rights of the elites and become equal to the minority meaning that James Madison beliefs would be wrong and justify that poor people are not “intellectually inferior” The constitution was afraid of equality between races.

    5.The federalist #10 is not in favor of democracy because the constitution was afraid that the majority would use their power and affect the property protection of the minorities elites.Meaning, that the constitution referred a republican form of government because it provides property protection for the elites and keeps the low social class people at the bottom of the tank to make elites richer .

    Discussion 6.1-Anivel Espinal Fernandez

    1.based on the arguments in readings 6.1 and 6.2 i noticed that social class haven’t changed as much as we expected . In 1787 times were more excluded and people were only seen of value or “worthy of power” if they had property and due to those times economic inequalities and the exploitation of slaves the right to vote was divided into 2 parts .The low income or working class at the time were described as slaves,servants,men with no property, and even women ; this people with economic disadvantages were taken away the right to vote because they “didn’t have talent of getting rich”. On the other hand the social class that were allowed to participate were the upper class “capitalist” before capitalist even existed .Men who had property were seen like the master minds and the only people who had a right to have a say on the process of writing the constitution .

    2.In my opinion times have changed of course due to many equality movements in the past leading to women no longer being excluded or seen as less .In the other hand, society haven’t changed as a whole because we can all agree that upper class or capitalist have a bigger say in the country specially when it comes to politics for example in my opinion the special interest groups have a bigger impact in the united states than voters .

    3. Generally ,The people who wrote the constitution were afraid of democracy because they were afraid that the people with lower intellectual economic abilities will have an opinion meaning they no longer could get exploited and manipulated into thinking they’re less .Also Real property holders economy relied on slavery and the only way for them to stay economically stable was to manipulate and explode the “working class or lower income “ meaning those people with economic disadvantages like slaves,women,men with no property , and etc..

    Discussion 5.3-Anivel Espinal Fernandez

    1.The statistics on wealth inequality in the US made the biggest impression on me. It’s that fact that 40-50% of American wealth is concentrated in 1% of the population.It’s more sad than impressive because the 99% of the united states population are economically struggling like it was showed in module 4 where we learned that even the middle class is struggling;to the bottom of the ladder where basically low income families have little to no assets .It’s very different for higher income families since most of them obtain their wealth inherited from their own families because the higher class pay less taxes than the working class .
    2.In my opinion some of the implications of living in a society that has such a huge wealth inequality is the limited access of basic needs in a low income community like healthcare and education. Some other implications in my opinion are also higher crime rates in those low income communities because as sad as it sounds some people in low-income communities tend to go for the easier route and try to find money wherever they can. I see this dynamic play out in our society everyday because sincerely people are getting exploited to work multiple hours and their salaries only cover their bills.From personal experience i’m a college student who works full time and my salary only covers so much .

    Discussion 5.2-Anivel Espinal Fernandez

    Times have changed , before the advent of capitalism artisan and peasants would have small-scale commodity production meaning C-M-C . The same value that the (C) has in the beginning is the same value it has at the end.At this time the surplus value wasn’t in the picture;it was more about exchanging money for a personal need like food or clothes and vise-versa. 

    The difference between Small-scale commodity production (C-M-C) and buying in order to sell(M-C-M’) is the( M’ ) because the value grows meaning the same money that was invested or profit in the beginning has grown.In the other hand (C-M-C) the value stays the same from where it starts .

    Capitalists remain wealthy because they use what is called “we need money to make money” meaning that with a percentage of their surplus value they use it for another investment as buying to sell to keep the money in circulation.(M-C-M’) is mentioned as the general formula of capital because the money that is being used for the commodity or produce is the same money you get after it’s sold but at a bigger rate meaning you get way more money of what you spent to buy the commodity.

    Labor power is basically the mental and physical capability to be a human and when you get a job as a working-class you’re selling your labor power for a wage or salary.Capitalist use the first M to buy the labor power of many workers and also to buy the means of production to help the workers function. C is the result that workers give after selling their labor power in exchange for a wage or salary . M’ or M plus is the final profit that is privately owned by the capitalist .

    Capitalism emphasizes workers exploitation and little to no compassion because if they were to be reasonable towards their workers capitalist wouldn’t have a surplus value or no money left over due to the fact that capitalist also need to pay means of production like materials , machines ,or as simple as paying rent for the location.

    In conclusion, capitalists maintain and increase their wealth by exploiting their workers . Increasing their relative surplus value is what keeps capitalists in business.

    Discussion 5.1-Anivel Espinal Fernandez

    1.video 5.1 shows that production and labor are the main source of wealth in this situation.production is the key tool for example factories,machines,and materials needed to produce something. On the other hand, labor is the only thing that can increase the value of a product because that is the work that is being put into creating the product. For example, in a makeup factory the labor is the cosmetic scientist and the means of production are the sources you need to create the makeup.

    2.What makes something valuable is the amount of labor that is being put into a product .Marx emphasizes that a product value is measured by how much labor it takes to produce a product under normal circumstances .The more labor it takes the higher the value.

    3.According to marx theory the value is distributed according to the labor (time and effort).Labor and value are related because you get value from labor .The more effort it takes to produce a product the higher the value.

    4.The difference between labor and labor is the key concept in Marx theory .Labor power is simply the capacity a person has to work as it’s mentioned on video 5.1 marx explains that labor power is the hours a worker puts for themselve . Meanwhile labor refers to the physical work that a worker has done .

    5.surplus value is privately owned by the capitalist(your boss) . surplus value is the main evidence that capitalism is exploitative towards the workers . workers don’t get the full value for their labor because workers basically get 50%.Surplus value is what your boss get for the product he sold from your labor.

    Discussion 4.2 -Anivel Espinal Fernandez

    1.Owners and employees have a dependency relationship , employees depend on owners to obtain their assets and owners depend on employees to stay in business .Although, the economic status is not the same between the employee and employer they both run similar difficulties for example owners compete in the market to stay in business and employees compete with employees to even get a job. Owners have much power over employees because they have the decision-making positions,profit distribution,and ownership of the company while the employees are given instructions to complete different tasks in benefits of a paycheck. 

    2.In quote “What transforms a tree into a profitable commodity such as paper or furniture is the labor that goes into harvesting”(Smiths.pg28) adam smiths emphasizes how workers don’t get paid enough for their labor, in fact capitalist get the profit that they don’t work for because they have what is called surplus value.Capitalist consist of families that live off stocks,investments,property income ect…compared to the working class they live off wages,salaries,and some government assistance but sadly the working class are exploited their entire life and most of them retire with little to no money to their name.

    3.Class should not be considered an identity because it compares the cultural beliefs and morality from the economic status of a specific group .In reading 4.4 it argues that class is not an identity because it is mostly a structural position in the economic system since these classes depend on each other .social hierarchies focus on the prestige a person has in their social class ; from economic wellness or even a social media influencer who seems “economically wealthy”. In contrast, economic classes focus most on the economic dynamic of who has “more wealth”.

    4. In reading 4.4 it explains how class structures are built around a close form of dependency because employees depend on capitalist and capitalist also depend on employees.Capitalist depend on employees to stay in business while competing in the market with other companies ;employees depend on capitalist to have a steady paycheck. For example 3rd world countries form a dependency with a much developed country and those developed countries end up exploiting these countries because of their class power.

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