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

The statistic that made the biggest impression on me is where it says that 90% of families have little to no assets, this made a bad impression on me because it highlights how big the wealth gap is because it also says that the top 1% owns about half of the country’s wealth; it shows how greedy those wealthy people are.  

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? 

When living in a society with a large wealth gap you will see many social conflicts and lack of community because people are living in survival mode, so there won’t be as much social cohesion. You would see political distrust because the poorer people will see that their government is not trying to help them better their living conditions. You will see economic instability because money flow will be stagnant; you will see political instability because politicians will create and enforce policies that will favor them and their ideas. Yes, this is something you see every day, when lawmakers defund policies and programs that help lower income people or when they won’t increase minimum wage to give working class people the opportunity to make more money. 

1.The Establishment Clause prevents Congress from creating a state-sponsored religion. What this means is that they cannot advocate for a certain religion and show favoritism. It goes against the First Amendment which is our freedom of religion. To help prevent this, the Lemon test was created. The Lemon test helps decide whether a law or act is religious promotion and whether it should be allowed based on three criteria. The first is that it must not include excessive entanglement between the government and religion. The second is it should not discourage, or encourage religious practice. The third is there must be a purpose to the act or law that does not have a religious reasoning or justification.

2. While the burning of the US flag was a controversial issue and many were and are still divided on it, it is protected under the First Amendment. In the case of Texas v. Johnson in 1989, the Supreme Court had ruled that the law condemning the burning of the US flag was unconstitutional.

3. When someone says they are taking the fifth, they are invoking their Fifth Amendment. The Fifth Amendment serves as legal protection. This means that they have the right to remain silent and not answer questions, lest they incriminate themselves.

The most surprising statistic to me was that the top 1% of Americans control as much wealth as the rest of the bottom 90% put together. That’s mind-blowing, because it illustrates how entrenched inequality has gotten in our nation. That’s not numbers; that’s people’s lives, such as access to housing, education, and healthcare. Being in such an unequal society builds resentment and resentment. This plays out in the cost of living well even with full-time employment having priced out the market beyond the reach of the average person, as opposed to groups of individuals reaping humungous profits. Such as the case during the COVID-19 pandemic, where the fortunes of the billionaires increased whilst families paid rent with difficulty. This imbalance distorts everything from politics to social mobility. Personally, I believe that we should question how long such a society can be sustained if the gap continues to expand.

1. Means of production and labor, In computer science terms, the means of production are like the hardware and frameworks that make programming possible servers, compilers, and libraries. Labor is the actual coding done by the developer. For example, a programmer writing algorithms in Python (labor) relies on the IDE, compiler, and machine (means of production) to create working software.
   
2. Value is like the functional output of a program. Raw code in a repository or idle hardware has little worth until it is executed to solve a problem. The usefulness of software, such as a fast algorithm or a reliable app, reflects the labor embedded in its design and execution.

3. Labor directly creates value, much like CPU cycles create program output. Without the programmer’s effort, the tools alone cannot produce working code. The amount of socially necessary labor time put into development determines how valuable the final product is to others.

4. Labor power is like the CPU’s processing capacity, while labor is the actual execution of instructions. Workers sell their ability to work (labor power), but what gets executed, the actual coding tasks is determined by the employer. The employer captures the results, much like a system owner controls the output of processes run on their hardware.

5. Surplus value is the difference between what a worker is paid and what their work produces. In CS terms, a programmer may be paid for 8 hours of coding, but the software they create could generate far more revenue for the company. That extra profit, like unused CPU cycles repurposed for other tasks, becomes surplus value for the owner rather than the worker.

The M–C–M’ diagram shows how capitalists use labor to turn money into more money, which helps them keep and grow their wealth. A capitalist starts with money (M) and uses it to buy things (C), like raw materials, machines, and most importantly, labor power. Workers get paid, but the value of the goods and services they make is more than what they get paid. The capitalist gets this extra value, called surplus value, when the finished goods are sold for more than the original investment. This is called M’, or more money. The capitalist reinvests the profit, which is the difference between M and M’, to start the cycle over again. Over time, capitalists use strategies like speedups, downsizing, and contract labor to make more surplus value and cut costs, which helps them stay on top of the economy. This cycle shows that in capitalism, getting rich isn’t just about having money. It’s also about controlling the means of production and getting value from work.

1. To have the means of production is to have the necessary tools and equipment in order to be able to produce the desired product. As for labour, it is to have someone or something to prepare the product with the equipment you have. An example for the means of a product would be fabric or cloth, and an example for labor would be a tailor or seamstress.

2. Based on the video, value is a price put on something or someone to determine their worth. What gives them their value is the amount of time and effort put into them. For example, A doctor will have a higher value attached to their title because of the years in school they’ve spent, while a cashier will not have the same value because they do not require years in school or an education.

3. Labour and value are related because there is value in labour. A piece of metal by itself does not have much value, but if you were to put labor into it and turn it into something more profitable, then its value would increase.

4. Labour power is the ability for one to work, while labor is the work itself. Labour power is only found in people and that’s because it requires things such as food, housing, etc. in order to maintain the work and labor they provide.

5. Surplus value is the additional value that comes out of your labour. This is important to know for our class because it is a concept that benefits capitalists, not workers. The additional value that you make is not going to you, but towards your boss. An example of this is when a workers labor earns them $100, only $30 will go to the worker, while the other $70 will go to your boss.

1. A similarity I noticed in readings 4.1 and 4.2 is that both readings talk about how social classes divide people into group’s and how most times Americans don’t know how to properly place themselves in the right bracket or they just choose not to. However, 4.1 discusses more about what factors play into how a person perceives their social class such as : education and income and 4.2 uses different neighborhoods on subway lines to emphasize the inequality between certain social classes.
2. The closest station to me is Sheepshead Bay on the Q and B train. Using article 4.2 I can infer that the area surrounding this neighborhood is the working class. I made this observation by looking at the surroundings and the type of people I typically see take this train and usually its either construction workers, office workers, students and regular parents trying to take their kids somewhere. The types of buildings surrounding this station are mainly stores like grocery stores or stores that sell clothes.
3. Based off my reading in 4.2 I noticed that New York City divides their social class pretty heavily even by subway stations that are only a stop or two apart, you can tell the drastic difference. I also noticed that the subway stations close to somebody’s house can reveal a lot about them and their social class group. Social class patterns affect how we all live, the amount of education we may end up receiving, and how we interact with others.

1. Ideology is more than belief, it’s an order or system of thinking that governs how individuals and communities live. Ideology is like a framework, language, or mindset that shapes principles, decision-making, and the culture of human beings or any other existence. For example, If someone lives by the ideology of materialism, they will measure success by wealth and possessions. But if they live by the ideology of the kingdom of God, they will value service, righteousness, and transformation. Ideology is not just abstract, when something is repeated, modeled, and embraced, it shapes the way people think and act, even at the societal level.

2. Conservatives and liberals are divided by the kind of ideology they live by. Conservatives embrace an ideology of liberty and limited government, believing too much control threatens freedom. Liberals embrace an ideology of equality and active government, believing that society should step in to help the vulnerable. Both are examples of ideologies become “systems of thought” that influence whole societies. They are like “dominant mindsets” that shape law, culture, and how people interact. Furthermore, conservatives argue for lower taxes, while liberals argue for higher taxes on the wealth.

3. Althusser said ideology is reproduced in everyday life through institutions like schools, family, and media. He said Ideology works “behind the scenes” to reproduce the social order, often without people realizing it. For example, prayer is form of ideology practice in family’s usually.