1. According to the readings, the Constitution was written by the propertied class, including wealthy gentlemen, merchants, slaveholders, bankers, creditors, and land speculators. The excluded class included slaves, indentured servants, men who could not qualify for voting under property tests, women, Native Americans, and poor farmers. The difference between them is the propertied class owned land, slaves, capital and securities, while the excluded class almost has nothing and survived solely by their labor.

2. The early American class structure was different from the current one but had a similar fundamental structure. The difference is there was a clear legal distinction between classes in the early days, such as, property ownership, voting rights, slavery, and discrimination against women under common law. While everyone is legally equal today. The similarity is a small number of people owned production materials and wealth dominated politics while the majority have to sell their labor to survive.

3. The people who wrote the Constitution so afraid of democracy because they belonged to the propertied class. Democracy implies that a majority without property might use the government to redistribute wealth, abolish debts, and threaten the interests of their class. Therefore, they incorporated mechanisms such as the separation of powers and the electoral college to curb the power of the majority when they designed the constitution.

1. The concept of “faction”

“Faction” reminds me of class conflict which is the opposing interests between the propertied minority and the propertyless majority.

2. The source of wealth

The source of wealth is the diversity of human faculties. Madison believed some people possess wealth because they have a stronger ability to acquire property, while others are poor due to their weaker ability. The unequal distribution of property results from the protection of unequal faculties.

3. I disagree. Madison claimed that wealth comes from the natural talents of the unequal and attributed poverty to low ability. The statement naturalizes inequality and ignores the structural reason, including inheritance, slavery, legal privileges and property qualifications. The explanation merely defends the existing class structure by making inequality seem natural and deserved, rather than viewing it as a product of power and exploitation.

4. Core mission

The government’s first object is the protection of these different and unequal faculties of acquiring property. In other words, they want to protect property rights and the resulting inequality. This is different from the idea that the government should give everyone a fair chance and provide support for everyone. However, in reality, some government policies still benefit people with more wealth and resources.

5. No, I am not surprised. Madison dislikes pure democracy and supports a republic because pure democracy would let the propertyless majority rule directly and potentially redistribute wealth and abolish debts. Meanwhile, a republic filters public views through representation, allowing the wealthy minority to govern while maintaining the appearance of popular government. In short, the fundamental reason of Madison’s behavior was to protect the interests of the wealthy.

1. Production and labor

In my opinion, means of production is something that can be used to produce, it can be a tool, a machine and resources to help make a product. Labor means the worker that use those products to produce something.

2. What is value?

I think value is the importance of something and an item has value simply by existing. Something becomes valuable because people need it and it takes time and effort to produce.

3. Labor and value

Labor and value are related because labor helps create the value of a product. The more labor and time a product requires, the more valuable it becomes, and workers receive compensation in exchange for their labor.

4. Labor and labor power

From my perspective, labor is the actual work people do, while labor power is a person’s ability and capacity to work. For example, a person has the labor power to work as a cashier, but when he is actually working and helping customers, that is his labor.

5. Surplus value

In my view, surplus value is the value that workers create beyond what they receive in wages. It is important for us to understanding social class because it shows the economic relationship between workers and the owners of businesses. For instance, if a worker produces $150 worth of products in a day but receives $100 in wages, the remaining $50 can be seen as surplus value.

1. M-C-M’

M-C-M’ explains how capitalists maintain and increase their wealth. M represents the money or capital initially possessed by capitalists. Capitalists use this money to purchase C, including raw materials, machinery, factories, and workers’ labor power. Labor power is very important for workers because they create new value through their labor. Although workers receive wages, the value they create may more than the wages. The excess part is the surplus value. Later, the capitalist sells the products and obtains M’, which is more money than the initial investment of money. Therefore, M’=M + surplus value. The capitalist can use extra money to buy more materials, machines, and labor power to continue the production process. Workers create surplus value which is the part of their working time after they have produced enough value to cover their wages. All in all, M-C-M’ shows how capitalists can use money to create more money and continuously increase their wealth.

1. Wealth inequality

The statistic on wealth inequality in the US made the biggest impression on me is “ The top 1 percent own between 40 and 50 percent of the nation’s total wealth, more than the combined wealth of the bottom 90 percent”. It shows that a large amount of the country’s wealth is concentrated in the hands of a very small group of people. Wealth can include houses, businesses, investments, and other assets, which can give people more economic opportunity. At the same time, people with less wealth may depend more on wages and have fewer resources to build wealth. This difference can also affect education, housing, and opportunities for the next generation. In other words, the problem is not simply that the rich have more than the poor, but that the entire society’s wealth is intercepted by a tiny elite, leaving the vast majority to compete for scraps no matter how hard they work.

2. Example

Living in a society with such extreme wealth inequality means that a tiny elite controls nearly half of all wealth, which allows them to shape policies, dominate the economy, and harden class divisions. These wealth disparities also lead to inequality in daily life. For instance, many people go broke after a single hospital visit, even if they have a job and health insurance because the bills are too high. At the same time, big hospitals and drug companies make huge profits, and their CEOs get paid millions. Low-income neighborhoods often lack a decent hospitals, with overcrowded emergency rooms while wealthy communities have fancy private clinics with great care.

2. The station closest to where I live is 9ave in Brooklyn. Based on the concepts from Reading 4.1, the social class in my neighborhood is mainly the middle class. I am not very surprised by this because many people in my neighborhood have regular jobs, stable incomes, and they can afford basic needs such as housing, food, and transportation. However, I do not think social class represents everyone in my neighborhood completely because people have different incomes and lifestyles. All in all, I think the result is a reasonable representation, but it does not describe every person who lives here.

1. The distinction between owners and employees

The owner earns money for the company primarily through other’s labor, as well as through investments and profits. The employee works for companies, earning wages as payment for their labor. For instance, in a restaurant, the boss is the owner that don’t need to do any labor while the chef, the waiter and the cashier are employees who require effort to earn a salary.

2. Understanding of the quote by Adam Smith

In my opinion, the quote means the true value of an item lies in the amount of labor that went into its creation, while its price is merely its outward manifestation. A product becomes valuable because people spend time, effort, and skills to make it so that it has its nominal price. Therefore, labor is the foundation of production and wealth.

3.Thoughts about class is not an identity

In my view, class is not just an identity because it is more than a label about who we are. It describes our position in the economic system and our relationship with other people. For example, workers depend on jobs to earn money, while capitalists own business and depend on workers to make profits. Therefore, class is mainly about powers and economic relationships, not just personal identity.

4. Understanding of the argument

I think “class structures are built around a close form of dependency” means capitalists and workers depend on each other, but they do not have equal power. Workers depend on capitalists for jobs and wages because they need income to support their lives. In the meanwhile, capitalists depend on workers because workers produce goods and services that create profits. For example, workers in a factory need their jobs to earn money, while the factory owner also needs the workers to keep production going. If the workers organize and go on strike, they can stop production and put pressure on the owner. Therefore, this dependency is unequal, but it also gives workers collective power when they work together.

1. How I understand ideology?

In my view, ideology is an individual’s perception of the world during their growth process. It can be a person’s opinion about something, a judgment that leads to action, or even a life value. It will keep growing and changing over time, gradually becoming complete, until the end of life.

EXAMPLE: Ideology reminds me of the story of the frog in the well. The frog at the bottom of the well believes the sky is only as big as the well’s rim because that’s all it’s ever seen. An individual’s ideology just like the well can be limited by the things you perceive and make your view feel like the whole truth. When someone mentions a large ocean, you can reject it, resist it, or choose to climb out. The moment you climb out, you will completely re-shape your ideology.

Ideology is not static that is influenced by many factors. For instant, a friend who argued from a different angle, the summary of every failure and the education you have received. What you firmly believe in today might be shaken tomorrow through just one conversation. Ideology doesn’t have a true endpoint. It merely indicates your current position, and you can change at any time.

2. Conservative VS Liberal ideology

In my opinion, the big difference between conservative ideology and liberal ideology is the varying levels of trust in the government. Conservative ideology pursues freedom to make their own choices and that government should not interfere too much in people’s lives or the economy. On the contrary, liberal ideology emphasis on social justice and equality. They believe that government should play a larger role in addressing social and economic problems and creating equal opportunities for people.

EXAMPLE: When it comes to healthcare, conservative ideology may think people have more freedom to choose their own healthcare plans instead of the control of the government because too much government involvement can increase taxes. However, liberal ideology may argue the government should provide more support to make healthcare affordable and accessible to everyone so that it can reduce inequality.

3. Althusser’s definition of ideology

Althusser believes that ideology shapes how people see themselves and the world, making social rules seem normal. It works through schools, families, religion and the media to make people accept the existing system. Ideology also shapes our identities by teaching us how we should think and behave.

EXAMPLE: Society teaches people that working hard and earning more money means being successful. People may accept this idea as normal and believe that their value depends on their career and income. People often accept these ideas without questioning them, which allow society’s values to shape their choices and behavior.

1. What is RSA?

• A repressive state apparatus refers to the state institutions that maintain social order mainly through violence or punishment, such as the police, military and prison.
• Althusser calls it “repressive” because these institutions can control or punish people when they don’t follow the rules.
• EXAMPLE: When people protest against the government’s policies, the government can send in the police to disperse the crowds, arrest the protesters, and even impose penalties through the law.

2. What is ISA?

• Ideology state apparatus refers to institutions like schools, families, churches and the media that can shape how people think and behave.
• Althusser calls it “ideological” because they influence people by shaping their beliefs and values rather than mainly using force. It can change one’s thoughts unconsciously.
• EXAMPLE: Social media and advertisements can influence what people think is fashionable or attractive by constantly promoting certain clothes, lifestyles, and beauty standards. people may start following these trends because they believe they are desirable.

3. RSA VS ISA

The main difference between RSA and ISA is how they make people follow the social system. RSA uses force, control, or punishment through institutions like the police, military, courts, and prisons, while ISA uses ideas and beliefs through institutions like schools, families, and the media. All in all, RSA makes people obey because they have to, while ISA makes people obey because they believe certain values and behaviors are normal.

4. Example of ISA

It’s a picture of ISA. The clock in the center of the image symbolizes the school’s demands for time and discipline, requiring students to attend classes on time, complete assignments, and follow rules. These daily educational practices influence students’ thinking and behavior gradually. It make students adapt to society’s rules and structures.