1. The means of production are the tools, machines, buildings, and resources used to make products or services. For example, a factory and its machines are means of production. Labor is the physical work people do to produce something, like a worker assembling products in a factory..etc..
2. Value is the worth of something based on the work and resources needed to produce it. In Marx’s theory, human labor is what gives products their value. Something can become valuable because it takes time, effort, and resources to make.
3. Labor creates value because people use their time and effort to produce goods and services. The more necessary labor required to produce something, then the more value it can have. An example would be handmade table takes labor to produce, which contributes to its value.
4. Labor is the actual work a person does. Labor power is a person’s ability or capacity to work. Like having the skills and ability to work as a cashier is labor power, while actually working a shift as a cashier is labor.
5. Surplus value is the extra profit workers create beyond what they are paid in wages. If a worker produces $200 worth of products in a day but receives $100 in wages, the difference can be a surplus value. It is important because Marx uses this idea to explain the economic relationship between workers and the owners of businesses.

M -C – M means a capitalists starts with money that being the M. Uses that money to buy commodities that being C which can be materials, equipment, and labor power. The last M would stand for more money after they sell the product. The extra money that comes is called the surplus value created by workers. It allows capitalists to make profit, reinvest their money, and then continue to increase their wealth.

The statistic on wealth inequality in the US that made the biggest impression on me was that a very small percentage of people own a very large share of the wealth in the United States. This stood out to me because it shows how unevenly wealth is distributed and how much economic power is concentrated among a small group of people. As it is not a surprise it still shocks me how we are still letting this system run for so long.

One implication of having such large wealth inequalities is that wealthy people have more opportunities and resources than people with less wealth. We can see this in everyday life through differences in housing, education, healthcare, and access to better opportunities. Some families can easily afford expensive schools or neighborhoods. While other families struggle to pay for basic needs. This shows how wealth inequality can affect people’s everyday lives and opportunities.

2. After picking a station closest to where I live, I have identified my neighborhood being a middle class. I am not completely surprised because it is a safe neighborhood to live in. It’s not no gated community but I’ve walked around my neighborhood alone in the middle of the night and everyone is very friendly. There is always an occasional drunk sleeping somewhere, but there are many nice people, pretty clean, and overall safe environment. I do feel it is an accurate representation of the people living here, there are hard working people who are living comfortable lives with nice houses, cars, backyards…etc..

1. What is a Repressive State Apparatus? Why does Althusser call it “repressive”? Can we explain his choice of words here. Give an example. 

A Repressive State Apparatus is a physical enforcement of the government. Such as; police, prison system, and military. Althusser calls it repressive because this group controls people by using physical force, violence, and punishment. Schools and media can try to persuade people into doing good and following rules peacefully while repressive systems choose to usw violence and hurt or put people aways for rebelling.

2. Let’s do the same for the Ideological State Apparatuses. What are they, how do they seem to work? 

ISA is a social institution. Like schools, churches, media, or family that try to teach us how to follow rules. The ISA is a softer system that use soft persuasion to shape how people should behave. They quietly train individuals to learn how to behave and see right from wrong so they accept current social order as completely natural and correct.AN sample;e can be the school system how how they teach from a young age how to follow schedules, respect authority, etc..

3. Important: this question will appear on our exam: How are the Repressive and Ideological State Apparatuses different from each other? What is the difference between the two?

While Repressive is a more violent system. As they abuse the power to control others by using violence on them, forcing those to follow and respect authority through physical violence and punishment if one does not agree with the system. ISA is a more calmer system that teachers through being softer when encountering g with those who disagree with the rights and wrongs. To teach from a early age what is acceptable in social society and how to not act out and just follow auhority respectfully.

4.

This Ideology image shows how one’s belief can benefit one party belief but also affect badly another. Yes it would benefit the wealthy but what would that leave for the “poor”.

1. to me ideology is a shared perspective of beliefs, values, and ideas that can shape how a group of people see the world or decide what is wrong and right. It will shape the minds into seeing how they understand and process things through their perspective especially in society. And sometimes this can even happen without us even realizing it in our everyday lives. An example can be The American Dream. The belief is that anyone can achieve financial success and happiness if they just work hard enough. If you see someone financially stable you would say it is because they work hard and have talent or skills in their field. But if someone was financially struggling you would think it is the opposite for them. That they are not driven or working as hard enough or else they would be living this happy stable life. But to have a deeper understanding in Ideology is to see that they are already in our schools, media, religions, etc.. Ideologies are constantly competing against each other. We have the main ideology that keeps everything together, but then also have new ideas that also rise up to challenge it when people don’t think systems are fair. In the end ideology is the system that “holds everything together” but then also allows other to use it as a tool when trying to change it.

2.  The main reason diving the Liberals and bConservatives is how they see the government. Liberals believe the government should be more involved to solve social problems, protect the government, and make sure that everyone is treated equally. Conservatives on the other Hand want something very different. They want the government to mind their business and stay out of private business and daily lives so that people can rely on their personal responsibilities. Healthcare is such a great example because it shows how liberals think it should be provided to everyone equally while conservatives think it should be handled privately.

3. Althusser argue that ideology isn’t a collection of bad ideas but an imaginary story we tell ourselves to fit into our world perspective. Because the complex reality and society rules can be too harsh so we use this “story” to make ourselves feel independent and practice it through ordinary habits taught to us by almost anything growing up.