1. The Constitution was written by the upper class people. This included bankers, property owners, and other wealthy people. The people that were excluded were those in the lower class, like poor farmers, indentured servants, and more. The wealthy has more power and influence than the lower class.
2. I think that the social class structure of early United States society is different from ours today, except that the rich still have a lot of influence today. Back then, many people weren’t allowed to vote. Only white male property owners were able to vote. As time went on more and more people were able to vote.
3. The people who wrote the Constitution were afraid of democracy because they were afraid the upper class they would lose power. The lower class would be able to challenge the wealthy and use their power to make change. An example of this is Shay’s Rebellion caused by high taxes and rent for small farmers. As a result the upper class wouldn’t be able to keep getting richer easily.

1. The concept we have already discussed that “faction” reminds me of are social classes.
2. According to the Federalist #10, the source of wealth is the abilities of people to get property. Some people get to possess wealth by owning private property and others don’t because people have different abilities.
3. I don’t agree with this explanation of wealth and poverty. This isn’t the only factor that explains why some get to own private property and others don’t. It also depends on the opportunities people have, education, and some people are just born into wealth.
4. The core mission of the US Government is to protect the faculties, or abilities of people to get private property. No, this does not surprise me. It is exactly what is happening today. We know that the rich have power because they use their wealth to influence politics.
5. I am not surprised that Federalist #10 is not in favor of democracy and supports a representative form of government. A democratic form of government would give too much power to one faction, which is why Madison dislikes it. A representative form of government would help prevent this by letting representatives elected by the people make the decisions, that way no faction has too much power over the other.

1) The statistic on wealth inequality in the US that made the biggest impression on me was that the top 1% own between 40-50% of the nation’s total wealth. This surprised me because the gap between the super wealthy and the rest was much bigger than I expected. In fact, the reading says that the combined wealth of the top 1% is greater than the combined wealth of the bottom 90%.

2) Living in a society that has such huge wealth inequalities brings problems. One of them being that the super wealthy have a lot of influence over many things. We’ve seen that the wealthy are trying to influence politics by using their wealth to support the campaigns of different political candidates. They try to get the candidate that they support elected with their money.

1. The means of production is the things, which are privately owned, used to create something by humans. Labor is the effort a worker puts in to create something. An example of this is a cafe worker making a coffee. The means of production are the coffee machines and the labor is the worker preparing the coffee, pouring it into the cup and giving it to the customer.
2. Value is how much something is worth. Labor is what gives “value” to value. The labor time under normal circumstances is what determines the value of something. The longer a worker has to put effort to something under normal conditions, the more valuable it is.
3. As the labor time under normal conditions increases, the value of what is created through the labor increases. As the labor time decreases. the value of it also decreases.
4. Labor is the actual physical process of doing work in order to create something. Labor power is being able to work well, given that you are able to sustain yourself well enough through basic necessities like food, water, etc.
5. Surplus value is the extra value created by a worker through labor, which is kept by the boss. It is important to know about because it shows how the owning class is able to stay rich while the workers have to keep working in order to make a living, because the boss keeps most of it. For example, a cook makes food and the restaurant makes $400 from him. He only gets $120 for the day.

1) The first M is the money a capitalist commits at the beginning. They have to buy buildings, machines, equipment and materials in order to produce. But they also need to buy labor power, by getting workers to do labor for them. They pay the workers a wage in exchange for their labor power. Next, the workers produce the commodities, represented by the C. These commodities are then sold. However, the worker only gets paid their wage, no matter how much money is earned. This surplus value is then used to repeat the cycle, which is how capitalists maintain and increase their wealth.

1) The distinction that Reading 4.3 makes between owners and employees is the difference in what they live off of. The article says that owners, such as shareholders, live off investments. These people are considered part of the corporate owning class. There are also owners of small businesses, which do not make as much. On the other hand, employees, such as factory workers, live off wages, salaries, and fees, working for the owner.

2) The quote by Adam Smith is saying that the true price of things is the work it took to make it, not the dollar amount.

3) I agree with the argument that class is not an identity. Identity is a combination of things like your traits, beliefs, snd experiences. It shapes how you see yourself. Class is not decided based on how you see yourself. It is based on whether you own any investment or business, or if you have to work for someone in order to survive.

4) This close form of dependency refers to the fact that a worker needs money to survive. To get money, they need to work for the capitalist. Without them, they wouldn’t be able to have food, water, or a place to live. But a capitalist also needs the worker. They won’t get any profit without having people to do work for them. An example is a restaurant owner needing workers to serve customers, and the workers needing to work there to get money to survive.

1) Ideology is the beliefs and ideas that a person has. Many people share similar beliefs and ideas. The beliefs that a person has influences how they view the world. For example, there are people who buy things because they are new, they like to have the newest thing. However, there are other people who believe that they don’t need that new thing, because what they have now works. These people identify themselves with a certain group. It includes things like political and religious groups.

2) Conservatives and liberals have two distinct ideologies in US politics. They have opposing views on many different things, especially in the role that the government should have. Conservatives believe that the government should be limited, because they believe a big government poses a threat to individual liberty. On the other hand, liberals believe that the government is useful for solving problems. They support a big government because a bigger government can solve more problems. Conservatives support lower taxes while liberals support higher taxes. Conservatives oppose abortion while liberals support it. Conservatives think that the government shouldn’t give benefits to people, unlike liberals. Instead, they believe that people shouldn’t be reliant on the government to survive.

3) Ideology is used to shape people through different things, including schools, the media, and politics. Schools teach kids discipline, to not go against authority, be on time. School is considered the most powerful ideological apparatus according to Althusser. Kids learn the way they should behave. It prepares them for their future in society, when they become adults and start working.

1) A Repressive State Apparatus is the use of threat of violence to create fear. This fear is used to control people’s behavior. Althusser calls it “repressive” because this apparatus is used to keep people in line. If a person behaves in a way that is not acceptable, then action is taken to stop them from behaving that way. For example, a person is robbing a bank is sentenced to prison. By sending them to prison, they are unable to rob a bank.

2) An Ideological State Apparatus is an institution, such as a school, used to teach people how to behave in society. It also influences how you identify yourself as well as your beliefs. Politics and the mass media are two other examples of Ideological State Apparatuses. These do most of the work.

3) A Repressive State Apparatus uses threat of violence and fear to control people. On the other hand, Ideological State Apparatuses rely on the institutions Althusser mentioned rather than the threat of violence. People learn what is normal behavior in society and maintain the status quo. Repressive State Apparatuses are only use when Ideological State Apparatuses don’t work.

4) This picture of a person being sentenced to prison is an example of a Repressive State Apparatus.