The U.S. Constitution was written primarily by the economically privileged propertied class, including landowners, merchants, and financiers, who are described by Parenti and Beard. They sought to protect their economic advantages, and hence political power remained in the hands of the propertied elite, while inclusion was denied to the working masses, enslaved communities, and the poor peasants. For example, the vote was initially given exclusively to owning white men and therefore disenfranchised the underclass and reinforced class-based discrimination.

The early American society class structure and today’s are the same in that economic power is converted into political power. While there are no longer property-based legal restrictions on voting, structural inequalities still ensure that wealthier individuals and corporations disproportionately dominate politics, for instance, through lobbying and campaign finance. The fact that this economic dominance of government persists shows that class stratification remains a feature of American society.

The Constitution framers feared democracy because they understood it to mean “mob rule” and as a mechanism by which the lower class would be able to overthrow their wealth and power. Madison’s Federalist number 10 is a clear argument that a republic, and not a direct democracy, was necessary in order to prevent factions particularly the majority poor from redistributing property and altering the system of power. By means of such institutions as the Electoral College and an unselected Supreme Court, the framers ensured that popular influence would be limited directly, ensuring elite control of governmental decisions.

The figure on page 29 that had the most impact is that the richest 1% of Americans possess more assets than the poorest 90% together. This is an indication of the intense concentration of resources in the possession of a small elite while the majority of people are barely managing to survive. It is alarming because it shows how resources and wealth are not being distributed equitably, which perpetuates social and economic inequality.

Having such high wealth disparity in a nation has various consequences. It limits social mobility since the wealthy get access to quality education, health care, and political influence while the working class remains in poverty with no opportunities. It also causes economic instability since economic growth is fueled by consumer spending when the majority of the population can hardly afford basic needs. This inequality is embodied daily, from stagnant wages and rising homelessness to higher housing and education expenses. For example, in cities like New York, there are neighborhoods with luxury skyscrapers and others where families hold down two jobs just to afford rent, showing the extreme divergence between the wealthy and the poor.

The M-C-M’ graph depicts the way money capitalists maintain and accumulate their wealth. It represents the movement of money (M) being used to buy commodities (C), which are then sold and bring in more money (M’), generating profit. Contrary to small-scale commodity production (C-M-C), where workers sell commodities in exchange for essentials, capitalists begin with money (M), invest in commodities (C) such as labor and raw materials, and sell the final product at a higher price (M’), resulting in surplus value. This surplus value occurs by paying workers less than the total value they produce. For example, the owner of a factory pays employees a set wage but sells the product they produced for higher cash and keeps the difference as profit. The continual re-investment of M’ into subsequent rounds of production is what guarantees wealth accumulation and maintains the hegemony of the capitalist class in economies.

Means of production are the machines, land, factories, and equipment used to produce commodities, which are owned by capitalists. Labor is the human effort that is utilized to produce goods and services, with laborers selling their labor but not the means of production. Example: The owner of the factory owns the machinery, while workers operate them.

Value is found in the amount of labor expended in creating a commodity. The greater the amount of labor needed, the more valuable the item. Example: A chair handmade is more valuable than a mass-produced plastic chair because of the labor.

Work creates value; without work, raw materials mean nothing. Value is based upon the work necessary to produce something. Example: A diamond isn’t just precious because it’s rare, but because of all the work to unearth it, cut it, and polish it.

Labor is the actual work performed, whereas labor power is the ability of the worker to work and is sold to employers at a wage. Example: A computer programmer is paid for his labor power, but the company earns much more money through the software created.

Surplus value is the extra value produced by labor beyond their wages, which employers keep as profit. It is responsible for class struggle, where workers ask for higher wages and capitalists attempt to extract as much surplus value as they can. Example: An employee produces $100 worth of goods but receives only $10; the other $90 is kept by the employer as surplus value.

2. The Owner-Employee Difference in Reading 4.3

Michael Parenti makes a clear differentiation between owners and employees in Reading 4.3 Capital and Labor. Owners are classes that depend on investments made in stock, bonds, and property. Absorbed by the efforts of others, they earn their income from business profits. On the contrary, an employee is one who usually earns income as a payment for services rendered in work done by another. These are the ones who sell their labor to eat and drink but actually do not own the means to put it into practice.

For example:
Owner: A major shareholder in a multinational; earns income dividend and capital gains income;
Employee: Factory worker whose cash flows are from wages of the same corporation.

3. Understanding Adam Smith’s Quote: Page 28

On page 28, Smith expresses the phrase: Labor is and can be just so much the ultimate and real standard by which to estimate, at all times and all places, and to compare value between all commodities. Really we can speak about their actual price at these-widely we would call this nominal price.” The actual value of goods and services is based on human labor. Money is the form of exchange. It’s the exertion involved in the production of goods attached value to them.

4. Class Suffering Not an Identity in Reading 4.4: Insights

Class cannot be seen as an identity just like race and gender, the way this counter-argument essay goes. Rather, class is a structural channel within the economic system defined by one’s relation to the means of production. Clearly, the world of classes concerns what one’s role and power are in an economic hierarchy and not an identity of culture and personality. That line of argument embodies the systemic division of class and correlates these structures to the fundamental concern of inequality.

5. Arguments Over Class Entering Into Reading 4.4 “Structures Built Around a Close Form of Dependency”

The claim according to Reading 4.4 is that class structures are built around “a close form of dependency,” which means that classes depend on one another within the capitalist system. Capitalists rely on workers for producing goods and services, while workers depend on capitalists for jobs and salaries. This mutual dependence leads to such a situation that each class’s status, as well as its power, is defined in relation to the other.

For example:

In a factory, owners depend on workers to operate machines and produce goods. If the workers fail to operate in the factory, the production stops, and the profits would go down. Exchanges, on the other hand, are dependent on owners for their jobs and the payment of wages by which they sustain themselves. Such interdependency shows that classes are interdependent by definition in the economy.

Similarities and Differences in Social Class Discussions in Readings 4.1 and 4.2.

Although the two readings pertained to social class perception, they differed in their approach. Reading 4.1, What Determines How Americans Perceive Their Social Class from Gallup, looked at how one sees his social class contingent on income, education, and occupation. The finding also pointed out that many Americans classify themselves as middle or working-class and that self-classification depends on personal achievements compared to others in society.

Whereas, Reading 4.2, “My Life on the Subway” from The New Yorker, provides along with an incredible touch of a critique-the social class differentials in the place of subways. The writer contemplates one’s experience over different subway lines and adds that those routes and stations constitute a microcosm regarding the economic and social diversity of the whole city.

Both complement each other; while reading an account of social class perception, this reading gives information about social class through perception while a data-based analysis of how Americans classify themselves defines reading 4.1. Reading 4.2, in contrast, narrates the observation of how social class appears in a real city life.

2. Social Class in My Neighborhood

From the findings of Reading 4.1 and my firsthand experience, the social class that prevails in my neighborhood near the St. Albans station in Queens appears to be middle class, characterized by a median household income of $99,634, with 34% of the households renting in the range of $75,000-$149,000, and 27% earning over $150,000. In terms of race, the neighborhood is mostly African American (79%), while a significant amount of its residents are employed in white-collar jobs (81.18%). In terms of educational qualifications, 16% are bachelor’s degree holders, while 9% possess master’s or other advanced degrees.

To corroborate with what I personally see, well-kept single-family homes, some local shops, and a functioning community organization suggest the stability and great involvement of the middle-class community. I personally see this portrayal to be true and unsurprising.

3. Common Patterns of Social Classes in NYC as Read in 4.2

Reading 4.2 states that the subways of New York City provide information about the social stratification within the city. Depending on what line and what station, all would indicate the particular socio-economic class served. That is saying that neighborhoods have been drawn based on income-as well as social class lines: while certain lines might pass affluent neighborhoods, others travel through low-income areas. Such patterns are indeed about the economic diversity of the city as well as the public transport system attempting to connect communities.

1. Define a Repressive State Apparatus (RSA). Why Does Althusser Call It “Repressive”?
   A Repressive State Apparatus is an institution that exerts control through direct methods like violence, punishment, or coercion. Althusser calls it “repressive” because it functions through coercion to uphold the rule of the ruling class. Examples include the police, army, prisons, and courts that suppress resistance and enforce laws through arrests, physical compulsion, or legal sanctions.
2. What are Ideological State Apparatuses (ISAs)? How do they function?
   Ideological State Apparatuses (ISAs) are institutions that condition beliefs and values to ensure control without the use of coercion. Rather than physical coercion, they condition people to believe in the ruling ideology as “natural.” They are institutions like schools, media, religion, and the family that replicate political ideologies and social norms. Schools, for instance, condition discipline and obedience, so that individuals embrace authority and economic institutions without hesitation.
3. Distinction Between Repressive and Ideological State Apparatuses (RSA vs. ISA)
   The main distinction is the manner in which they take control. RSAs utilize force, i.e., police arresting protesters, whereas ISAs employ persuasion, i.e., the media marketing capitalism as the ideal system. RSAs function via punishment, whereas ISAs impact ideology so individuals obey voluntarily without necessitating overt repression. Governments employ both concurrently—force where ideology breaks down, and ideology to avert the necessity for force.
4. Ideology and Classification Example (RSA or ISA)
   A school oath that instills patriotism and nationalism is an ISA, as it builds beliefs from an early age. A state crackdown on a protest is an RSA, as it employs physical force to repress opposition. Both operate to uphold control, one through persuasion and the other through repression.

(a) Ideology. The systematic belief system guiding functioning societies to direct orientation along lines of the government-priority, economy-priorities, and social structures, which become the determinants of people’s involvement in making decisions on particular issues ; the kind of justice that a person requires and determination regarding the form of government as well.

(b) Example: Different types of economic systems comprise conflicting ideologies. The value and belief systems that comprise capitalism are ingrained especially in the ideals of private ownership and market competition, while in the case of socialism, it recognizes and ameliorates inequality that is inherent in economic opportunity through regulation toward social welfare.

(c) Further Explanation: There are ideologies that permeate institutions like education, media, and politics, which are really just meant to reinforce power structures. Most people accept dominant ideologies unquestioningly without ever getting around to asking where they come from or what could be their problematic effects. Say, “Work hard and you will see what you want” is, of course, one, but a very large part of this unargued tradition amidst great economic disparities because of systemic reasons.

2. Differences Between Conservative and Liberal Ideology
   The part where government has different roles in society is, for the most part, the following:

Conservatives consider that personal accountability, free markets, and minimal government interference exist in all quant y as regards these things. Government regulation would stifle economic growth.

Liberals encourage government action to provide welfare programs, social justice, and environmental regulation; they view regulation as a means to promote equity.

Example: Laws governing minimum wage.

Liberals make a claim on higher wages to retain quality.
For conservatives, more wages spoil the business environment and destroy jobs.

3. Althusser’s Definition of Ideology:
   He says that ideology is a set of ideas in particular instituted modes (education, media, and religion) that construct, in people, the distortions about how the world works, but even so almost never, overtly, mimic the foundations of the power structure.

Example: School education instills authority respecting behavior. This forms the foundation upon which society continues normalizing the power dynamics that are imposed upon it. Media thereon keep selling and uninhibitedly raise awareness about consumer behavior.