- What is the distinction that Reading 4.3 makes between owners and employees? Give an example of each.
- How do you understand the quote by Adam Smith on pg. 28? What is it saying about labor?
- What are your thoughts on the main argument of Reading 4.4 that class is NOT an identity?
- How do you understand the argument Reading 4.4. makes when stating that “class structures are built around a close form of dependency”? What is this close form of dependency, and can you think of an example?
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1.What is the distinction that Reading 4.3 makes between owners and employees? Give an example of each.
Owners are the people who control the means of production. They live off their investment through bonds, mineral royalties, other property income, and rent. Owners profit at the expense of their employee’s labor, whereas employees live off wages, salaries, fees, and contract payments. Employees have to work hard in other to survive. The most interesting thing is that while employees’ wages are mere tokens of what they make employers gain, owners continue to enjoy more profits through employee labor. It is almost like exploiting the employees to give everything to the owner in exchange for a wage. For example, the owner of a private business profits from the surplus value of the employee while the employee gets rewarded for just a few hours for his labor.
2How do you understand the quote by Adam Smith on pg. 28? What is it saying about labor?
I think what Adam Smith is saying is that the actual price of commodities produced is the labor incurred in making that item, with money being its nominal price. Smith gives a perfect example of what transforms a tree into a profitable commodity. In every single stage of the process, labor is incurred to make it possible. This is to say that labor is the ultimate determinant of the value of a commodity.
3.What are your thoughts on the main argument of Reading 4.4 that class is NOT an identity?
For me, class is not an identity. The identity of an individual can be determined through gender or race. On the other hand, class is a person’s place in society based on their socioeconomic status. One can rise above the class in which he was born. Though some people are fortunate to be born into a particular group of classes, others have worked their way to the top. A class is simply categorized based on their socioeconomic status, such as wealth, income, education, etc.
4. How do you understand the argument Reading 4.4. makes when stating that “class structures are built around a close form of dependency”? What is this close form of dependency, and can you think of an example?
This concept speaks of the employer and the employee. One owns the means of production through which the labor of the latter is exploited. The employee sells his work and depends on the wage paid to him by the employer. Therefore, we can deduce that both the capitalist and the employees need each other to function well. Without the employee, the capitalist has nothing because there will be no one to put their labor into production for the capitalist to make profits. Without the capitalist, there will be no employment for the employee.