1. The distinction between owners and employees is the sources of income between both parties. The owners generate their income through their investments and ownership of the assets which they make profit. With employees they earn their profit by wages in exchange for labor. The reading show how owners benefit from the economic value produced by employees, highlighting the disparity in income sources and wealth accumulation between these two groups.In “Inequality and New York’s Subway,” an example of owners would be the shareholders or investors who profit from the ownership of the subway system or related infrastructure. These owners make money through their investments, receiving returns in the form of dividends or profits from the operation of the subway system, rather than through direct labor. An example for employees an example would be subway workers. The subway workers employees tend to make their salaries based on their labor which is providing services to operate and maintain the subway system.
2. Adam Smith quotes,“ The division of labor occasions a proportionate increase of the productive powers of labor,”emphasizes the importance of labor in generating wealth and value. The quotes mainly emphasizes smith’s point of view of labor which is creating values and wealth.This emphasizes the notion that labor is the primary factor in creating value, demonstrating its superiority over wealth. Smith essentially contends that labor is the fundamental component that determines the genuine value of commodities.
3. The main argument in the reading is that class should not be considered as an identity, it should be seen as a position in the economic system. The theory emphasizes that class is defined by one’s place in the economic structure how people interact with production, money, and labor rather than personal traits or self-perception. This turns the attention away from individual identity and self-concept and onto structural features of economic systems.
4. The argument “class structures are built around a close form of dependency” it suggest that class relations are determined by complex and interrelated economic and social interactions. Which is suggesting the common difference between the different classes. For example, the public transit system such as New York’s subway system. Subway workers, including operators, maintenance crews, and ticket agents, rely on the transit authority to provide wages and working conditions. The transit authority rely on their workers to continue a smooth working system allowing millions of people to commute to work or school with no issue which is contributing to the economy. This creates mutual dependence because without the workers, the subway system would fail, affecting the entire city’s economy. The workers are depending on the transit systems salary to make a living and to provide for themself. However, the relationship is unequal because the transportation system’s owners or administrators have a greater effect over working conditions and income, while workers have little control over how their labor is utilized or returned.