Discussion 5.2

M-C-M explains how capitalist keep and increase their wealth, M is for money because they start with an amount of money. C is for commodity because they use the money they have to purchase materials, farms, factories and labor workers in order to produce goods and services. M is for more money because once the goods and services are selling the capitalist receives more money than the money they started with. The M-C-M shows how capitalist increase money such as investing, production and selling their goods and services to receive more money.

discussion board 5.1

1. The mean of production is things we need to use in order to create something that will help our economy grow. For example we need farms in order to make produce but we need to have seeds in order to grow produce. Labor is the work done by people to create something, for example physically baking for a bakery shop for 8 hours.
2. I believe values is when you put all your time and effort into the work you, or when a product is always sold out so the value in it rises.
3. Labor and value is related because the amount of time and work you put into something creates value, and value comes from the goods and services from labor.
4. The differences is that labor is when work is being physically performed by someone while labor power is what a worker has to offer in order to receive their wage.
5. surplus value is when a worker over works themselves and go above and beyond for a small amount of wage. I think surplus values is important because it points out the different social classes.

1. the distinction between owners and employees is how they make their income. Owners tend to make money from investing in businesses, stocks and bonds or real estate. The way some owners make income is by relying on their employees to grow their income. For example a retail store will make an owner money by the way their store manager runs the owners company. Also how the employees drive sales and customer service. In order for the business to succeed the employees have to drive sales to bring the business income. Employees on the other hand make money by physically working and giving up their time to perform duties for the company. Employees work for a wage or salary for the job that they do. For example a teacher works a shift and gets paid biweekly for their time teaching children.
2. I believe Adam Smith quote meant that the true value comes from how much time, effort and creativity you put into what you are selling or the service you are giving which represents the price. For example if you crochet sweaters the real price comes from the amount of time you took making it, the quality of the yarn you use and the dedication and creativity you put into it, this makes a material turn into something valuable.
3. I believe the main argument of the reading 4.4 is that class shouldn’t be viewed as just an individual identity it should be viewed in a way where it doesn’t define you as an individual. This reading helps people realize that if you understand class in that way that you’ll understand how easily it influences social dynamics.
4. To me “class structures are built around a close form of dependency” means that different classes depend on each other and impact each other. For example, in a retail store low wage workers are hired by employers in order for them to receive a paycheck but in exchange the low wage workers need to run their business by having good customer service, selling products, hitting their daily goals and making sure everything is running smoothly in order for the employers to receive income. This example shows that they both need each other and depend on each other because without the low wage workers the employers cant run their business and without the employers the low wage workers wont be able to work and receive a paycheck.

2. The closest station where I live is the 1 train in 125th street, I believe the social class that live around that area is lower class. Around 125th street there are a lot of project buildings that were built years ago for people and families with low income, There’s also a lot of schools and parks for kids to attend. I notice that around that area they have a lot of restaurants and stores for people to go out and eat and shop. I do believe it’s a accurate representation of the people living in my neighborhood because a lot of people who are in the lower class can actually afford to live in 125th street because of the help they get in this area compared to a area like lower manhattan where apartments are more expensive for them.

(For question 1&3 4.2 link did not work)

1. Repressive state apparatus is organization that enforces control through force for example the army or the police. Althusser calls them repressive because these kind of organizations use their physically power to force you to stop something. For example the police use their force and power to stop people from vandalizing at a protest.
2. Ideological state apparatus are organizations like schools, the media and religious beliefs that influences people. They influence people by changing their perspectives on certain things to maintain control.
3. The difference between repressive and ideological state apparatus is that repressive state uses physical force and power to control while Ideological state influences through ideology.
4. https://youtu.be/BjZo5EIRZZ4 in the movie Fury the military soldiers uses violence to maintain control during their time at war and follows the governments orders.

1. To me ideology is sets of beliefs that shapes how someone views or understands the world from what influences them. This can change the way they view political, cultural views and economic views. Ideology also provides individuals with guidance on how things should be organized based of what they believe in. An example that shows ideology shaping people’s views and differences is socialism and capitalism. Socialism seeks to create an equal society by having the government or community control and distribute resources while capitalism is an economic system where people own and control resources. Ideology provides guiding principles that helps people choose their stance with views in life. Everyone’s ideology is different from what they believe is right and how society should be organized.
2. I believe the dividing line between conservatives and liberal ideology is that conservatives prefers limited government involvement when it comes to the economy. They also prefer to reduce government spending while liberals prefer the government to be more active in addressing social situations like providing services to individuals. One example that could be use is the different views they see in healthcare.
3. Althusser believed that certain things like the media and school influenced people understanding on the social system and their behaviors towards it. For example schools may teach us certain things in order to change our views on different things.