1. Micheal Parenti explains the differences between business owners and employees by highlighting their opposing interests and roles in the economy. Business owners, or capitalists, possess the businesses, resources, and land needed for production. Their main aim is to earn as much profit as possible. On the other hand, employees sell their work for wages but don’t have any ownership or control over production. For instance, if I own a fast food restaurant, I can decide how much to pay my workers and when they work, but the employees have no say in their pay or job security. Owners make money by paying workers less than what they actually produce. Employees want fair pay, but if wages are too high, it cuts into the owners’ profits. Another example is if I run a clothing brand and sell shirts for $50, but it only costs $5 to make one. The worker who sews the shirt might only get $3, while I keep the rest as profit for my business. Parenti argues that capitalism naturally favors owners over workers. Owners hold the wealth and power, while employees rely on their wages and often face exploitation to boost profits for those in charge.

2. Adam Smith’s quote explains his idea about how we determine the value of things in a capitalist economy. He believes that the worth of a product comes from the amount of work that goes into making it, rather than the money spent to buy it. When he says, “labor is alone the ultimate and real standard,” he means that no matter what kind of money is used, the real value of an item is connected to the human effort (like time, hard work, and skills) that went into making it. The phrase “Money is their nominal price only” shows that money is just a way to trade, and its value can change. But the true value of a product is still based on the labor needed to create it. For example, if a product requires a lot of work or special skills to make, it will usually be worth more, no matter what currency is used to buy it. Smith is basically saying that the amount of work put into something is what really determines its value, while money is just a way to show that value in different situations. This idea is really important in classical economics, where work is seen as a key factor in figuring out how much something is worth.

3. The argument in reading 4.4 on “class structures are built around a close form of dependency” means different social classes depend on each other, which helps keep the current power structure in place. The term “close form of dependency” describes how workers and business owners interact in a capitalist system. Workers need business owners to pay them wages so they can live, while owners need workers to make money. However, this situation is not fair because owners have more control—they decide how much workers get paid, how secure their jobs are, and what the working conditions are like. A example of this dependency can be found in fast food restaurants. Employees rely on their jobs to meet their basic needs, but they often earn low wages and have little say in their work conditions. At the same time, the business owner makes a profit from the workers’ efforts while trying to keep expenses, including wages, as low as possible. This creates a cycle where workers stay dependent on their bosses, which strengthens the divide between social classes.