Capitalists can influence prices by generating interest, in their products to maximize profits through strategies, like advertising and branding while potentially employing tactics.In the world of work and economics business owners sometimes try to cut costs by compensating employees less, than the worth of the products they create effectively gaining value in the process. A lot of investors who are into capitalism put their money in industries or sectors to lower risks and generate multiple sources of income. Individuals can also utilize markets to invest in stocks or bonds and even real estate to enhance their wealth by earning interest and capital gains. This process of M → C → M’ demonstrates how capitalists consistently earn profits and increase their wealth by utilizing their capital in investments and market activities. Capitalists start with money, which they invest in the production process. The money is used to purchase commodities, which can include raw materials, labor, and machinery. The key here is that the capitalists buy these commodities to produce goods. After the production process, the commodities are sold for money, ideally resulting in more money than initially invested. Afterwards surplus represents profit.

1. The top 1 percent own between 40 and 50 percent of the nation’s total wealth (stocks, bonds, investment funds, land, natural resources, business assets, and so on), more than the combined wealth of the bottom 90 percent. These statistics probably made the biggest impression because the working class is the majority and even with all our bank accounts and what little assets, bonds, stocks, and resources the top 1 percent still have more wealth of 90%. It’s almost incomprehensible.

2. Wealth inequality often translates to unequal access to essential resources such as education, healthcare, and housing. Those with less financial means may struggle to access quality education, leading to a cycle of poverty that’s hard to escape. This example so keenly illustrates how wealth inequality effects daily life and influences broader dynamics, negatively impacting everything from healthcare to education to even community cohesion.  This dynamic is and has been played out in our everyday society since there was even a society to begin with.

1. The reading makes a few distinctions between owners and employees. One of those distinctions is that owners have the capital to have employees in the first place. The employees work for wages and salaries while the owners which are normally capitalist make a profit in surplus value from the labor created by the employees.

2. How I understand the quote given by Adam smith on page 28 is that labor ultimately is what gives whatever is produced by said labor it’s worth and value in the first place. So, in some ways labor is superior to capital because without the labor you would not have the product to make profits and all the surplus value. Also, it does not matter how much capital you have, having capital does not make the product you wish to sell. Having a million dollars in the bank can’t build you a toothpick it’s the labor that is put behind. I agree wholeheartedly

3. I disagree with the notion that class is not an identity. We are defined daily by our social class and have less access to a pleather of resources because of it. People of higher socioeconomic class have been getting away with things people in lower classes would not even dream of committing. Laws and rules only apply to some unfortunately. If you have the wealth and status, you may be able to commit a few felonies and not be incarcerated and maybe I don’t know, run for office and be the leader of the free world. All the while some people are convicted felons and can’t even vote in some states or get a half decent paying job.

4. I understand that “class structures are built around a close form of dependency” but understanding that employees need wages and salaries and owners need to make a profit to keep on being rich. The construction company that got the big contract from the city to build these streets and roads we occupy every day, need the construction workers to build those streets and roads so they can secure profit. All the while the construction workers are dependent on the employer securing that contract so they can secure their wages to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads.

1. The Repressive State Apparatus refers to institutions and organizations that enforce laws and norms through coercive means. It is deemed repressive because it is what’s happens when you step out of line and do not conform to ideological state apparatuses and their fixated values with the threat of violence or use of force. These include prisons, the courts, the police and lastly the military.  The term repressive signifies that these institutions are more so concerned about suppressing dissent and enforcing order as opposed to just shaping norms and beliefs.

2. Ideological state apparatus is a concept developed by louis Althusser to describe practices and institutions that serve to perpetuate ideology and support the social order. This is done in a form of indoctrination that widely impacts and shapes their behaviors, beliefs and values.  These are usually achieved through either family, mass media, education and political institutions.

3. The Repressive State Apparatus and Ideological State Apparatuses are two distinct concepts that describe different mechanisms through which a state maintains social order and control. Both have jarring differences. The repressive state apparatus maintains social discipline through direct coercion, legal sanctions and usually force through their institutions. Institutions that include courts, prisons, military and the police. While the ideological state apparatus tactics are more persuasive and indirect. Educational systems and family seem to be the genesis of this as you don’t want to disappoint or disrespect your parents so naturally you would adopt their beliefs which at times can seem subtle and non-damaging at first glance. Media is another way to drive a wedge between what you may believe and the norm giving you an idea of what the “ideal citizen’ should look like through their influential prowess.

4. https://youtu.be/xqh0zXSd4vc?si=_3TmxqgBGbBS0LIg ideological state apparatus.

1.ideology is basically a culmination of values, beliefs and ideas that­­­ shape how individuals and or groups in society interpret society and their world around them. Many groups can have a direct impact on how you draw inferences of your ideology which include social, political, economic, or even culturally. All these groups can have a profound influence on your decision making which ultimately creates your life and worldviews. Two common ideologies most people of today’s society may classify with is liberal and conservative ideologies.

2. As we have come to learn in life, no two things are the same. This case is also true when referring to conservative and liberal ideologies. On the one hand conservative ideology suggests that the large government poses a threat to our individual liberty. They believe in the free market and that everyone has the same 24 hours in the day. In other words, if you are poor and working in the middle class it’s because your either lazy or incapable and it has nothing to do with the actual government. Yet relies on the government to govern anything that can be a threat to their well beings and or wealth, i.e harsher prison sentences, monitoring and surveillance of others less fortunate than them and to protect the assists to their capitalist world views. Also, they believe in a strong defense and support money being poured into the military. Liberals however believe and lean into the aid of the government and firmly believe that they’re here to serve a purpose helping solve societal issues. Liberals understand that the free market the conservatives love so much in fact won’t be fair to everyone. Liberals cherish equality and have deep rooted beliefs in government intervention.

3. Louis Althusser, a French Marxist philosopher, offers a nuanced and influential definition of ideology. There were two apparatus he believed which are Repressive state apparatus and Ideological state apparatus. According to Althusser, ideology is more than just a set of ideas or beliefs it’s an integrated system that plays a crucial role in maintaining social structures and power relations. Althusser uses the concept of interpellation to explain how ideology “hails” or “calls” individuals into social roles. Through interpellation, individuals are positioned within ideological frameworks that define their identity and social function. This process helps individuals recognize themselves as part of a social structure and adhere to its norms and values.