The Supreme Court decided to set limitations to the case. According to Justice Antonin Scalia of the court, the Dukes’ case cannot be considered as a “class action” as the respondents cannot produce enough evidence to prove otherwise. Based on the narrative of the case, not all women employed by Wal-Mart had experienced the same level of discrimination from the company. Scalia furthered that in order for the Dukes to make a claim under class action of rule 23, there should be one problem identified collectively among the class members and a common solution to it. 

In view thereof, there is an obvious question that the Supreme Court has to look into, and that is if the case itself satisfied the requirement of “commonality” in reference to Rule 23 of Civil Procedure. The respondents failed to give proofs to support this claim.

P. Williams writes in her essay, that the war on terror is a new type of war. What’s new about it, how is it different from traditional wars? 

A war against terrorism is a mental conflict, with the enemy being anyone who instills fear in us. In fact, one striking aspect of current American public conversation is how challenging it is to discuss facts rather than fear . We must take great care to prevent human rights from being viewed as an indulgence in a struggle that is tinged with a certain amount of social fear.

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 seems to violate the Bill of Rights by violating the privacy of anybody who has a passing interaction with the suspect . This violates the fourth amendment, which states that a search must be authorized by a warrant and be based on reasonable suspicion that the subject has committed or is about to commit a crime . It also violates the First Amendment’s guarantee of free expression.

What about “Sneak and Peek” Warrants? 

The Sneak and Peek Warrants permit the FBI to examine a residence or place of business without immediately informing the subject of the investigation, this section permits “delayed notice” of search warrants . According to the Justice Department, this clause has already permitted investigators to search the homes of drug dealers and other criminals without giving them a warning that could have jeopardized an investigation.

1.Describe how you understand the “Establishment Clause” and the related “Lemon Test”. The Establishment Clause prohibits the government from establishing a religion. The word “establishment” is not clearly defined. In the past, it meant that state-sponsored churches like the Church of England were forbidden . The Lemon test was developed by the Supreme Court to determine weather a statute or other 

2. Is burning the US flag protected by the First Amendment? Explain by referring to the relevant court case discussed in the reading. 

Burning the US flag constituted an example of symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment. Gregory Lee Johnson, a pro-communist and anti-war activist, set a torn flag on fire in 1984 as part of a protest. He was detained, accused of, among other things, “desecration of a sacred object,” and ultimately found guilty of it . However, the Supreme Court ruled in Texas v. Johnson in 1989 that flag burning was a type of symbolic speech protected by the First Amendment and that the legislation was unconstitutional as it applied to flag desecration.

3.

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

When someone says “I’m taking the Fifth”, it means the person has decided to remain silent, withhold information from a judge or law enforcement officials that could be interpreted as an admission of guilty or responsibility for a crime . Also, in a criminal trial, if a defendant chooses not to testify in support of their own case, the prosecution is not permitted to infer guilt or suggest that an innocent defendant would testify in its place.

1.The role of citizens in the government is crucial the citizens are deeply entangled in our constitution. One of the major roles of a citizen is to obey the laws. The laws are in place in order to protect the citizens from harm and promote equality. Citizens are required to pay taxes which are used to operate the government and provide services back to the people. Citizens are also required to defend the nation in case of aggression. And aside from these duties, citizens are also given responsibilities including the right to be informed and educated and participate in government by exercising the right to vote and respect the opinion of others. These roles are all common in the federal, confederation, and unitary systems and have almost no difference at all except in the voting process of the federal government. The federal government officials are elected by the electoral college and the members of the electoral college are voted by the citizens.

2.Briefly explain how you understand the system of division of power

The division of power is in place to put ensure that no sole office in the government will hold too much power. This is a safeguard placed to prevent a government official to wield too much power and being given a chance to abuse and exploit the position. The division of power is placed to have the three main branches of government in a system of checks and balances.  

3. The federal government is supposed to be overlooking matters that are too big for state governments to handle even if it is within their jurisdiction. The federal government acts as a supplemental government to the state and local governments. The federal government’s actions, or lack thereof, have prompted the state government to mandate that hospitals stretch out their resources to accommodate the sudden surge of infections during the COVID-19 pandemic.

1. The framers of the Constitution were mainly the big land owners for instance, manorial lords, Other categories, such as plantation owners, creditors, merchants, plant owners, supported this move. The categories which were excluded were the slaves, indented servants, small white farmers ,which were seen as the greatest threat. 

2. The social class structure different from the current one. While nowadays, the middle class dominates, back in the days, the majority of people where poor disadvantaged. One of the reasons is the big accent on farming in the past, which meant there were a few big land owners (manorial lords and slave owning planters) and many small farmers the latter were often highly indebted and doing bad , which often led to rebellions. The working class was present but not too numerous. Among those who were doing the worst were the numerous slaves and indented servants (social classes that aren’t present today). There were also categories like merchants, plant owners, money lenders, etc.

3. The framers of the Constitution were mainly afraid to be deprived of their wealth. They realized that the “propertyless” were the many and they were the few and that the many could rebel against them potentially removing them from their positions of power and confiscating their wealth. Additionally, they treated with disregard the poor, ignorant, and unschooled and thought they are totally unfit to decide about the nation’s future. Also, they were the ones economically exploiting these poor, for instance offering them credits, charging rent, etc.

1. Faction reminds of the concept of social class. A group in society defined by their own interests, opinions, or passions. 

2. The source of wealth is suggested be the faculties that each person has. These faculties to acquire wealth differ greatly from person to person and originate at the interplay between personal opinions and passions, which are different for each person. Hence, the ability of a person to actively gain wealth is implied to reflect “better” faculties compared to the faculties of a person who isn’t successful at gaining wealth.

3.  It is to a great extent true that some people have qualities that make them better at gaining wealth compared to others. Importantly, while biological factors might have an influence on these , these qualities are even more influenced by education and exposure to an environment that increases the likelihood of them manifesting and developing. And here lies the problem people don’t choose their environment at birth, but are rather prisoners of their environment. If this environment is hostile towards getting quality education, the chances of these people to get wealthy will also decrease. Hence, generations might succeed before somebody is able to break the cycle.  Another factor that is overlooked is luck a certain percentage of people are wealthy not due to their talents or hard work but because they got lucky for instance inherited a fortune. Importantly, it is much easier to earn the second million once you already earned the first, nowadays, the gap between the rich and the poor increases worldwide.

4. The first object was the protection of different and unequal faculties of acquiring property. In other words, the core mission was to create a framework that would help protect the wealthy few against the threat represented by the less wealthy and many. It was a bit surprising to learn about this, but when I sit and think, conflict around wealth is one of the most important forces in society and has likely been around since our species evolved.  In fact, I’d say this “core mission”, even nowadays, is a fundamental pillar of the law system and of how society is organized. The government nowadays is responsible for enforcing laws, including those relating to property, but first, without such laws, we might plunge into chaos, and second, this is one of its many, many other important functions for instance, guaranteeing personal safety of each individual, the right to education, intellectual property rights, etc. 

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. 

Means of production: Means of production is the use and ownership in society of the elements of goods and services. An example of a means of production is mine. 

Labor: Work that involves physical and/or mental effort. An example of labor is “studying hard for a test” 

2.Another important concept in understanding social class is value. Based on the ideas presented in Video 5.1, what is value? 

Value is that quality of an entity according to which it is thought of as being desirable, useful, estimable, important, etc. It is the worth or the degree of worth. 

 3.What give “value” to value, what makes something valuable? How are labor and value related? What’s the relationship/connection between the two? 

The labor theory of value is a notion that an item’s value is directly linked to the number of labor hours required to produce it. For example, if a car requires 5 months to build compared to 4 hours to build a desk, then the car would be a lot more valuable, according to the labor theory of value.  

Value has never been a built in property, characteristic or part of the actual thing we value. It is always a product of our mind, and is always present in our mind.  

 4.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 power is what a worker sells to an employer, while labor is something humans have always done to produce the goods and services upon which life depends. Labor power is often absent in long periods of human history, reaching its fullest presence in capitalism.  

 5.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 unpaid value of the labor of the worker which creates a surplus product, of which the entrepreneur becomes the owner i.e., the difference between the value that living labor creates in production and value paid by the capitalist to the worker in the form of wages. An example of surplus value would be if somebody sold a secondhand asset at a profit. Such a transaction will not be recorded in gross product measures. Nevertheless, a surplus-value is obtained from it. 

1. As we learned thus far, the capitalist class consists of people who own wealth, as well as the means of production in American society. An important question in understanding how this class works is to ask: how does a capitalist remain wealthy? The answer to this question depends largely on understanding the diagram M-C-M’. So, let’s practice by explaining what happens in this diagram in our own words (but basing our ideas on Reading 5.1). Respond to the following question:  Explain M-C-M’ to show how capitalists maintain and increase their wealth. (hint: your answer should weave a summary that includes what you reviewed in the self-assessment exercise question 1-7) 

The capitalist uses his money to purchase a commodity, and then sells that commodity to make a profit on his investment. Examples of such commodities include labor, hotels, stocks, debt etc. It does not matter what the commodity is, only that it will give a return on his investment. This way the capitalist remains rich. Suppose a capitalist invests 500 million dollars in a savings account. Using interest rates    of about 1.3 percent on his savings account, he will generate around 5million dollars a year from this seemingly senseless investment. Thus, the person who has this much money does not have to do anything to make more money. The money does all the leg work for them. 

1.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? . In both these readings there exist similarities in terms of factors involving in determining social class differences. It is mentioned in both readings that social class difference relay on the income of any family which decide in which class it fits the best. But there also exist a difference in these readings as the average incomes in both are different for determining social class but in both readings it is clear that social class difference is highly dependent on variables other than income also. When the factors like Americans’ political group affiliation, philosophy, family status, as well as gender are taken into account, have no effect on how individuals identify themselves . There exists a lower class and an upper class in modern American culture, very few people, regardless of their wealth or degree of education, choose to conceive of themselves as belonging to such categories.

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? The average of my neighborhood is 55k, that means that my neighborhood is a middle social class. Honestly, I thought the amount would be a bit higher because in my neighborhood there are only houses, and people’s lifestyle looks very comfortable.

Based on Reading 4.2, do you notice a general pattern about social classes in NYC? Yes, there exist a general pattern about social class in New York city as income of a family with $205,192 lies under highest median and with the average income of $12,288 comes under lowest median class. The income of $191,442 determines the large range in median income class and so on. In the same way different classes are present in NYC and the difference is based on the income variable. Particularly higher income level Americans regard themselves as upper-middle class instead of upper class, although quite poor social and economic rank Americans are probably to perceive themselves like a middle income or working level as they are as inclined to perceive as lower class.