1. Two key concepts in this video are the means of production and labor. In your comment, explain how you understand the means of production and labor. Give an example of each.

When discussing the means of production and labor, the means of production have more to do with what it takes to produce labor. You need means of production to produce labor. The way the video explains it and is able to provide examples is by discussing the means of labor it takes for him to make the very content we’re watching. The camera he uses to film with, the lighting, the editing software, and even the Youtube platform itself is all supplies/tools necessary to make his content. The labor itself is the time and physical work needed to utilize the means of production to make the product, i.e, the YouTube video.

1. Another important concept in understanding social class is value. Based on the ideas presented in Video 5.1, what is value?  What give “value” to value, what makes something valuable? 

Themes of value often involve rarity, amount of effort/labor, and availability. A direct quote from the video is “a products value is measured by how much labor it takes to produce under normal circumstances”. It refers to the labor theory of value. Taking two hours to create a product that would normally only take one hour doesn’t decrease its value, its value simply stays the same. Time is money and

1. How are labor and value related? What’s the relationship/connection between the two?

Labor and value have a cohesive relationship. Marx believes labor is the only thing that increases the value of what you buy. Referring an example that’s in the video, buying a block of wood and doing nothing with it doesn’t increase its value, it stays the same. Although you can sell the wood for a higher price when there is a demand for for it, only the price is affected and not the actual value. But, if you take the same piece of wood, labor to carve it into a chair, its value will increase. The time and effort used to turn a block of wood into a functional chair is what is of value. Labor is needed to measure the value of a product.

1. How do you understand the difference between labor and labor power? Hint:this is a key difference, give it your best shot based on what the video says about it, and your own ideas. We’ll clarify and develop it in our discussions, and in my video comments.

Labor is the actual time and work being done, whereas labor power is ones ability to labor. Labor is needed for production, but an individuals capabilities for efficient production is what gives them labor power. Although labor has value, a persons labor power is more valuable since its value can increase.

1. Surplus Value: what is it? Why is it important to know about, in our study of social classes? Think about an example of surplus value?

Surplus value is the value on top of what it takes to get you there. The laborer is not the one who gains surplus value but it goes to the bosses or the company they work for. I think it’s important for us to know about surplus value because if following Marx’s theories, it is gained through the exploitation of working class people. It represents how laborers are always being paid less than what their labor is actually worth.

1. Keeping in mind the material covered in this lesson, describe how you understand ideology in YOUR OWN WORDS

Ideology is a system of beliefs, values and ideas that explain how society should work. It covers many different subjects that guide individuals on the topics of social issues, government, human behavior etc. The way I understand ideology is that its shaped by social groups we belong to, such as political parties, communities, and cultural values. These groups help influence what we view as normal, what we view as important, or what we view as right or wrong. All of these identifiers are all categorized to fall into different ideologies as a way of being able to differentiate and systematically sort shared beliefs and values.

2. How do you understand the difference between conservative and liberal ideology in US politics? What seem to be the big differences, the dividing line? Given an example to backup your arguments.

When it comes to US politics and the difference between conservative and liberal ideology, what stood out to me the most was how rooted in religious values conservative ideology is. People who tend to have a more conservative ideology favor liberty and favor prayer in an educational setting. Aside from deep rooted religious values, conservatives believe a large government is a threat to their liberty, which is a stark contrast to liberal ideology. Liberal ideology seems to want more involvement from the government to protect individuals from the free market. Although liberal ideology draws the line at the government having any involvement or role in peoples personal lives. Although the conservative right believes in the free market and the potential economic opportunities for many, liberal ideology beliefs the free market doesn’t have the best interest in its people, and look to the government to regulate big businesses and have higher taxes.

How do you understand Althusser’s definition of ideology? Paraphrase it in your own words

The way I understand Louis Althusser’s definition of ideology, is that his definition has more so to do with subconsciously taught beliefs and behaviors. It seems to run deeper than what many others may think when it comes to ideology. From his perspective, ideology is seen more as institutionalization through structures such as schools. A direct quote from Althusser states “The school today is just as “natural”, indispensable, useful and even beneficial for our contemporaries as the church was for our ancestors a few centuries ago.” He also talks about how schools uniquely shape ideology due to mandated attendance for long hours. Aside from teaching children basics of reading and writing, it’s also teaching discipline and social conditioning to follow social order.

1. What is a Repressive State Apparatus? Why does Althusser call it “repressive”? Can we explain his choice of words here. Give an example.

Repressive State Apparatus is a means of control, through police, courts, or prisons. I think the work repressive speaks for itself. the state is meant to repress any resistance of people disrupting the status quo.

2. Let’s do the same for the Ideological State Apparatuses. What are they, how do they seem to work?

Ideological state apparatuses rely heavily on social acceptance to prevent change to the status quo. This involves schools, churches, and mass media

3. Important: this question will appear on our exam:How are the Repressive and Ideological State Apparatuses different from each other? What is the difference between the two?

The difference between repressive and ideological state apparatuses is that the repressive apparatus is based on control. It involves threats of violence. Ideological state apparatus revolves more around peoples motivation for social acceptance to keep them from changing the status quo. Where the ideological state apparatus fails to keep people in their place, the repressive state apparatus comes in with threats of violence to maintain order and status quo

4. Post an example of ideology. This could be a piece of writing, an image, video, pdf document, visual art, or music, clip from a movie. Next to your example, specify if this is an example of repressive or ideological apparatuses at work. I’ll start us of off by giving an example.

I feel like the best example of ideology in cinema is the red pill/blue pill scene from The Matrix. It’s the origin of the term “red-pill”, a term that was originally meant to reference “waking up” and challenging widely accepted beliefs. Although I would say the entire movie would serve as a great analogy for repressive and ideological apparatuses, this scene specifically is an example of ideological apparatus. the blue pill is what keeps Neo in the illusion and if accepted, he would’ve just accepted the version of reality that “the system” had created and whatever beliefs were shaped to keep him compliant. While the red pill would’ve rejected the false reality. While using The Matrix as an example, the agents in the movie would be an example of repressive apparatus due to their use of violence to control whoever challenges the system