1.Ruth Gilmore says that capitalism will stop being racial capitalism, when all the white people disappear from the story. What’s the connection between “whiteness” and racism, do you think?

The connection between whiteness and racism is that racism came about due the difference in color of skin with any other color that was not white. The term whiteness is used to describe a set of people who are in considered to be in charge. For example, when “Whites” owned the “Blacks” in slavery.

2.Gilmore makes the point that criminals are actually being created by the criminal justice and prison system (she says “the category of ‘criminal person’ can be perpetuated”). According to Gilmore, how does that happen, how does the prison system create new “criminals“? Do you agree with her view?

I agree with Gilmore in that the criminal justice and prison system creates new criminals due to the way they are treated in jail. The way the jails are run. How inmates struggle to live and fight in the jails daily causing them to have perhaps a more psychological reaction to their environment. Causing more hate in them. And Anger. It can even be viewed from a different perspective in a hateful bad person who did a harmful crime gets imprisoned and the justice system fails us and this criminal is set free to walk the streets without a care in the world or repercussion because our justice system freed an evil man. The Parole offices and police officers are underpaid and are not doing their job correctly and this person is using this to their advantage and is free to commit another crime.

3.Describe how you understand what Prof. Gilmore – in the last part of her video – calls “liberation struggle”?

I understand the liberation struggle as a world-wide liberation. A world-wide liberation that is needed across country due to negligence and environmental living factors of certain parts of the world. Not just including black people but every race that is struggling and in need of help and justice.

The supreme court decided that the 1.5 million female Walmart workers could be classified as a class action lawsuit because not all the women were treated the same or denied pay raise in all the Walmart locations. There was not enough evidence to or enough common evidence to build a case into a class action lawsuit in order for those women to receive monetary compensation.

Commonality is a legal term used for a certain outcome or event that each person has in common. something that binds the story together that everyone experienced.

1. In what ways is the court system better suited to protect the individual, than are the elected branches of government (such as Congress and the President; or the Mayor of NYC and the NYC City Assembly)? Give an example to illustrate your argument.

The Court system on a federal level protects our constitutional rights more than the elected branches due to the fact that the government has their own agenda that they want to push to the United States citizens and it does not matter at some point whether it violates our constitutional rights. However, we as the citizens of the United States have the power to utilize the federal court system to uphold and protect our constitutional rights. For example, on the COVID 19 vaccine. The elected branches mandated every U.S. citizen is forced to take the vaccine against their own free will and if not, they then threatened that each hard-working U.S Citizen is to lose their employment. In October 26, 2022 a judge in the New York State supreme court ruled that Mayor Eric Adams vaccine mandate back in October of 2021 was unlawful and made the decision that every employee who lost their job during this mandate is to be rehired. This decision was made on a case filed earlier this year by 16 sanitation workers who refused to take the mandated vaccine and lost their employment.  The decision was made due to the violation of separation of powers doctrine within NY state constitution and it violated the workers substantive and procedural due process rights and lacked the power and authority to permanently exclude the workers from their workplace. This is a prime example of elected branches vs the court system and how they protect us more than the elected branches.

• The supreme Court-Think about how federal judges get to become judges – unlike Presidents, Mayors and members of Congress (and other legislatures), they are not elected, but rather appointed. Many Americans have thus called the federal courts system, and especially the Supreme Court, anti-democratic PLACES IN OUR GOVERNMENT. Do you agree that the Supreme Court, for example, is an anti-democratic part of our government? What could be the reason for this way of choosing judges in federal courts? (HINT: think about our discussion of “Federalist #10”, and which social class plays a leading role in our government system.)

In my opinion the supreme court is not anti-democratic. This is a statement clearly made by an upset democratic party. Federal judges are appointed and not elected for the sole purpose of ensuring they apply the law with only justice in mind and not for the electoral, political or public concerns.

1. Describe how you understand the “Establishment Clause” and the related “Lemon Test”.

The Establishment cause is to prohibit the federal government from declaring and financially supporting a national religion. And under the “Lemon test” the government can only assist religion only if the assistance neither promotes nor inhibit religion.

• Is burning the US flag protected by the First Amendment?

Yes, because the majority of the Court according to Justice William Brennan, agreed with Johnson and held that flag burning constitutes a form of “symbolic speech” that is protected by the First Amendment

• What does it mean when someone says “I’m taking the Fifth”?

Taking the fifth means you will remain completely silent until you can meet with an attorney who will help ensure that your legal rights are protected.

In what ways does the “Roving Wiretaps” of the Patriot Act seem to violate the Bill of Rights? Which amendment(s) does it seem to violate and why?

The roving wiretaps of the Patriot Act gives the government access to conduct Records searches, Secret searches, Intelligence searches and “Trap and trace” searches. This violates our bill of rights because this should only be used by government for enemies of the state. However, the government is using this for American citizens. The Fourth Amendment say that the government cannot conduct a search without obtaining a warrant and showing probable cause to believe that the person has committed or will commit a crime. Second it violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech by prohibiting the recipients of search orders from telling others about those orders, even where there is no real need for secrecy. Third it violates the First Amendment by effectively authorizing the FBI to launch investigations of American citizens in part for exercising their freedom of speech. Lastly, it also violates the Fourth Amendment by failing to provide notice. Notice is also a key element of due process, which is guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment.

What about “Sneek and Peek” Warrants?

Sneak and peek warrants also violate the fourth amendment due to the failure to provide notice. Notices should be given within a reasonable, but short time. The time should not exceed 7 days except upon a strong showing of necessity.

In my opinion the primary differences in the role citizens in government play among the federal, confederation and unitary systems are the following; In the Federal system the citizens vote for the elected representatives, in the Confederation system the citizens have less say so and the government makes decisions and the Unitary system the citizens do not have any say all the decisions are made by the government. The division of power from my perspective is more on the government then on the citizens. But that is why it is key for the citizens to vote the corrected elected official into office. One that is going to make the necessary changes and ensure the work gets done. Not one that gives false promises. Like our current lovely President. Who I gladly did not vote for.

The federal government shapes the actions of the state and local governments in many ways. One way is that the federal government are the ones in charge of the distribution of grants and aid towards the states. The elected officials of each state cannot make the decisions on their own without the approval of the federal government. Therefore, it’s pretty much like a boss and its employees. An employee cannot get a raise without the approval of his boss. We the state are the employees of the federal government. That is the best way I can explain it to make sense. During Covid 19 which we are still in our former Governor Cuomo wanted to delay the reopening of schools. The former mayor at the time DeBlasio wanted to reopen the schools and send everyone back to work at the office. It is a chain of command. DeBlasio as the mayor could not get what he wanted because Cuomo the governor is in term his Boss. And what he says go. Now both parties in the government respond to the federal government rules and mandate which is our president. But even if the president suggest a state do something the governor of that state has the say so and what he implements or not.

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.

The means of production and labor I understand as the following; The Labor is the amount of time it takes to create something. And the production is the amount of the product you can create in the allotted time frame. For Example. I am in the business of selling shampoos. It takes me 1 hour to create 10 bottles of shampoo. The labor is an hour and the production is 10 shampoo bottles.

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?

The Value is how much a product is worth. What gives a product value is the time it takes to create said product. For example; My shampoo making business allows me to make 10 shampoos in 1 hour. I sell my shampoo at a higher amount than a shampoo business that uses a machine or factory who can make 100 shampoos in an hour, because mine is more time consuming for the product being produced. Therefore, my product becomes more valuable than the factory shampoo being produced at mass production.

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

Labor and Value are related and cannot exist without each other because the labor is what gives a product its value. Not taking away from the fact that any additional values that can be taken into consideration when producing something valuable. For example. My shampoos can be even more of value not just for the time it takes to make my 10 bottles but also the expensive materials or unique goods used to make my shampoo.

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.

The difference between labor and labor power Is that labor is the work that you have to do. And the labor power is the amount of things it takes for you to complete the labor you are being paid to complete like your food, clothes and transportation needed for you to even begin doing the labor you are being paid for.

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 profit your employer makes out of your labor on top of the amount of work that was essentially needed to create the product you were hired for. In other words, it takes me 1 hour to produce 10 shampoos. I am hired to make 40 shampoos a day. I work for 8 hour a day and In 4 hours I make the amount daily goal amount of 40, but because I still have another 4 hours of work I end up making 80 shampoos a day. Those extra 40 bottles of shampoo are the surplus value in my business. It is the amount of money extra that I make off the labor I provided in one day. If I am my own business owner than that is my money. But if I work for someone else then that business owner just benefited off my hard work and had extra product made without paying me more for my time in making shampoo bottles.

Which statistic on wealth inequality in the US (discussed on p. 29) made the biggest impression on you? Explain why?

The statistic of going from rags to riches surprised me the most, because it clearly states that most people die in the class, they are born in.

What could be some of the implications of living in a society that has such huge wealth inequalities? Do you see this dynamic getting played out in everyday life in our society? How so? Example?

The implications of living in a society that has huge wealth inequalities is exactly what we are living today. The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. Right now, to be in the top tier 1 percent you need to be able to invest in stocks, own your own businesses and create your own profit without providing any labor. A middle-class working adult is not being paid for their labor in the way they should. The expenses of everyday life don’t allow for you to even save money enough to try to invest a measly 2000 in a stock. A lot of people live paycheck to paycheck. Because we are not being paid enough money at work. A lot of people have good careers and still do not get paid what they should be making.

Do you notice any similarities in the way social class is discussed in readings 4.1 and 4.2? Do you notice any differences in the way these two readings DIFFERENTIATE between social classes?

The Similarities in the way social class is discussed in readings 4.1 and 4.2 is that they both measure the education and money of a person to determine the social class they are placed under. The differences that I did notice in the way the two readings differentiate social classes is that one may think that people of higher social classes do not exist around them but clearly with the mapping of the train lines you can see that they do. Which is quite surprising.

Pick the station closest to where you live. Using the concepts from Reading 4.1, what social class tends to live in your neighborhood? Are you surprised (or not) by the answer? Do you feel it is an accurate representation of the people living in your neighborhood?

I was most definitely surprised by the social class distribution in my neighborhood. For I only thought I lived in a neighborhood that is predominantly poor and working class. But based off the train map some make almost 200,000 in my train line area. Which can be inspiring and encouraging for the youth that there is potential. They may not stay stuck in the hamster wheel forever. With proper education and a wise career path along with some smart investments you too can see your way out of the ghetto. The question really is do the households that have the kids of our future teach and make ways for our future kids to succeed in society today. Or are most of the kids and teenagers now a days stuck like some of us older adults struggling and trying to make ends meet for our struggling parents in either single head of households or struggling working class house hold? It makes you wonder whether failure in society can also be a product of your upbringing and parent’s current social status. I would advise everyone to try to not be a product of your environment and always strive to succeed so that you can go from a poor or working middle class to the upper middle- and upper-class percentile.

Based on Reading 4.2, do you notice a general pattern about social classes in NYC?

A general pattern I noticed about the social classes in NYC is that the highest amount earned is always in Manhattan. No matter what train line you click on the highest amount of money earned is always in Manhattan.