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?

Ruth Gilmore states that capitalism will stop being racial capitalism when all white people from the story. Whites have profited and benefit from capitalism are white males. Ruth Gilmore states that “we see that the understanding that those who own the means of production had of their differences from
those whose labor they exploited were understandings that we can recognize today as racial
practice”. Throughout history there has been a racial hierarchy of power and capitalism is a system that includes politics and economics and it owned and controlled by private owners where they make profits. There is no equality in capitalism and racism is a system in which justifies capitalist exploitation. The connection between “whiteness” and racism is that those who benefit from racial capitalism are whites and generationally it will continue to be whites.

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

Criminalization maintains the racial hierarchy and there will always be a stream a criminals that will continue to grow. According to Gilmore this happens due in part to longer sentences and the list of behaviors that count as crimes have to continue to grow as Gilmore states, this is also how the prison system creates new criminals. I do agree with her view as new laws are created and formed it will keep prisons open and constantly growing.

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

As I understand, liberation struggle as Prof. Gilmore states is a rebellion or movement against a power that keeps a group of people destabilized. Liberation struggle is based on the needs and struggles of a specific group who are being oppressed.

What did the Supreme Court decide in the Wal-Mart case? And more importantly, how did it justify its decision? (HINT: the key word here is “commonality” (and how it related to “class-action lawsuit”). Try to understand what this legal terms means, as it is key to the court’s decision).

The conclusion of the Wal-Mart v. Dukes case was that the supreme court could not recognize that the 1.5 million women as class plaintiffs as one class and ruled in favor of Walmart. They justified this decision by stating that there was no commonality in the large group of women in the class action suit. Not all of the women being represented had the same issues, no pattern was found, and the commonality was not met. Not all women who worked for Walmart around the country in the years 1998 to 2011 faced the same discrimination, sexism, and bias.

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.
   1. The court system is better suited to protect the individual, than are the elected branches of government. Judges apart of the court system are appointed rather than elected, they do not appease to a specific group or majority opinion. The nominee most likely always reflect the presidents ideologies and rhetoric and serve a life time as a supreme court judge. Most cases are not tried by the supreme court, those cases that effect most Americans go to the supreme court. Examples of this is the overturn of Roe v. Wade and Brown v. The Board of Education. Those judges at the state and federal level defend the rights of citizens.

2.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.)

I do agree that the Supreme Court is anti democratic part of our government and this is because the Supreme Court Judges are appointed opposed to elected by the public so there interest reflect the current president and the withhold the United States Constitution which sometimes is not in favor of the majority. Because the wealthy play a leading role in our government system and choosing a judge is in the best interest of who at that time have the same political rhetoric and have already were judges at a federal level there is always an opposing side and no same group has control of the government but it is still the wealthy that control the government and protects the liberties of those who are wealthy. Decisions are made for the good of the public but of factions.

1. Describe how you understand the “Establishment Clause” and the related “Lemon Test”.
   1. The Establishment Clause prohibits the United States government from establishing or sponsoring any religion. This also prohibits states as well from establishing and form of religion. The Lemon Test was established by the supreme court and came out of the 1971 court case Lemon v. Kurtzman. This asses if government activity violates the Establishment Clause and its asses three criteria’s in which the government can assist in religion. The government can only assist if the purpose is not based on religion, the reasons should be neutral, religion and government should not be entangle and there should be straight forward boundaries.
2. Is burning the US flag protected by the First Amendment? Explain by referring to the relevant court case discussed in the reading.
   1. The burning of the US flag is protected by the First Amendment’s freedom of speech, press, and the right to petition the government. In the case Texas v. Johnson the court ruled that Gregory Lee Johnson’s burning of the flag was a form of symbolic speech and was protected by the First Amendment. Burning the flag is covered under freedom of speech and the government can not criminalize a person for expressing an idea because it is offensive to others.
3. What does it mean when someone says “I’m taking the Fifth”?
   1. “I’m taking the Fifth” protects those from self incrimination. Individuals do not have to give evidence to officials that might “constitute admission of guilt”. “I’m taking the Fifth” means that an individuals can stay silent or refuse to answer questions that could lead them in taking responsibility of a crime.

1. P. Williams writes in her essay, that the war on terror is a new type of a war. What’s new about it, how is it different from traditional wars?
   1. The war on terror is a new type of war because it changes the way the government views and acts on human rights, the constitution of citizens, how authorities approach crimes, how authorities investigate crimes. The war on terror is a new type of war because it is never ending and violates human rights and encourages the violation of laws that were put in placed to protect basic civil rights. This is different from traditional wars because the civilian population is also targeted and there is a use of different tactics in order to receive information even it it compromises the US Constitution.
2. 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?
   1. The “Rovering Wiretaps” of the Patriot Act violates the Fourth Amendment which states the government can not conduct a search without a warrant or probable cause to believe a crime has been committed. It violates individuals rights to privacy
3. What about “Sneek and Peek” Warrants?
   1. The “Sneek and Peek” warrants gives authorities the right to search homes and observe individuals with a warrant without notifying the target of the search. This also violates the Fourth Amendment because its gives authorities the right to search for even low level crimes that have nothing to do with terrorism.

1. Describe the primary differences in the role of citizens in government, among the federal, confederation, and unitary systems.
   1. The primary differences in the role of citizens in government, among the federal confederation, and unitary systems are the role of citizens in government are to vote for representatives, in the federal confederation citizens have the most power. With the unitary systems the citizens are not involved and most of the decisions are made by the local governments.
2. Briefly explain how you understand the system of division of power.
   1. The system if division of power is the distribution of political powers. In the reading it states that “federalism is the is an institutional arrangement that creates two relatively autonomous levels of government.”The national government deals with issues that effect the entire country, and the subnational/state government deals with issues that “lie with their regions”, meaning the local government is responsible for taking care of the citizen needs like public safety, eduction, health care, homelessness, and housing. The subnational government will delegate local responsibilities.
3. How does the federal government shape the actions of state and local governments? Write your answer based on doing a bit of research on how the federal government has influenced the actions of NY state and local governments, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
   1. The federal government shapes the actions of the state and local government by giving grants that help states with their financial needs like education, agriculture, construction, and the pandemic recovery initiative. The government provided many states with financial assistance/grants in the recovery of the pandemic. Billions of dollars were giving to eligible states for emergency funding and was called The American Rescue Plan or Covid 19 Economic Relief. This grant was for small business to be able to open back as well as pay their employees.

1. “Faction” is the number of people whether it be the majority or minority who have certain commonalities and stick together to promote and protect their interests. Factions reminds me of the government that we have today and the past topics of the working class and the capitalist who are able to stay wealthy. It reminds me have how the capitalist who are the 1% and the amount of power they have in not only maintaining their power and wealth but making sure that it stays generational.
2. According to the Federalist #10 the source of wealth (private property) is the unequal distribution of property and maintaining the factions or making sure that the country’s interest comes before those who have their own self interest. Those who are in a position to make laws will continue to stay wealthy because those laws are best suited for them and not those who are poor. The poor will remain poor because there is always that threat of the government that will continue to restrict them from gaining wealth.
3. This explanation of wealth and poverty is correct and I do agree with it. It very evident in today’s society in how the governments works in protection liberty and those who have property. Those who are in the working class are staying a the threshold that keeps them at the very social class that they started at.
4. The core mission of the government was to keep properties and wealth were it is at and continue to protect those who have property. Those who are born in the class that already have wealth and property will continue to be in that class. The governments mission is also to protect liberty and to protect the republic over democracy.
5. I am not surprised that the Federalist #10 is not in favor of democracy and supports a republican form of government. The government even in today’s society is about looking at factions as problematic, and seeing democracy as a threat. A strong government can protect liberty and find ways to eliminate factions which is inevitable because as its states in Federalist #10 “There are two methods of curing the mischiefs of faction: the one, by removing its causes; the other, by controlling its effects.”

1. Based on the arguments presented in Readings 6.1 and 6.2, which social class wrote the Constitution, and which class was excluded and not allowed to participate in this process? In your comment, make sure you clearly specify the difference between the two classes by giving examples from the readings.
   1. Based on Reading 6.1 and 6.2 the rich as well as property owning white men wrote the constitution. The working class was excluded and not allowed to participate in the process of the Constitution, this includes women, slaves, those who did not own property, indentured servants, and Native Americans. Those who owned property had to own assets over the amount the government of their state was asking. Those who wrote the Constitution preferred the elite class to have the majority vote and deciding powers.
2. Would say that the social class structure of early United States society, was the same as ours today, or different? Explain.
   1. The social class of the early United States society is the same as ours today in that the upper class and rich have power over the government and write the laws. The middle and working class who consume most of the debt in the United States have little rights in the decision making in the US. How the structure in hierarchy of classes was back then is the same as it is now with the wealthy, upper class, middle class m and the lower class.
3. Why were the people who wrote the Constitution so afraid of democracy? Hint: think about how to answer this question by discussing it in terms of social classes.
   1. Those who wrote the Constitution were so afraid of democracy because they wanted to continue to defend and protect their interest and the interest of property. They didn’t want the majority to have any control and they didn’t want them to be able to oppose their view points in regards to the new government. They viewed the working class as incompetent to many attributes, and were afraid of tyranny by the majority.

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.
   1. I understand the means of production to be the resources that we use to create and produce goods and services, and those goods are sold to make a profit for business or corporations. Labor increases the value of the goods that are produced. In the video he states that labor “is measured in time, hours, and minutes”, the more time and labor it takes to make something the more valuable it is. When using automatic equipment to create some the value decreases because it would take less time to create the product. An example of means of production and labor is high fashion clothing brands that use physical labor that might take hours to make, package the products, and sell them at very high prices. And those who are needed for this type of labor might go to school for fashion design technology school which can take two to four years of training, for some it’s a talent they was passed down from generations.
2. 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? 
   1. Value is the amount of labor that it takes to produce products and the value doesn’t decrease in the time that it takes to produce the product. How much time it takes to produce a certain product under normal circumstances is what gives “value” value.
3. How are labor and value related? What’s the relationship/connection between the two?
   1. Labor and value are related in that the amount of time and training put into producing goods the more valuable that product is. The connection between the two is that labor is the source of value and the value of goods is the amount of labor that it takes to make those goods.
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.
   1. The difference between labor and labor power is, labor power exposes the amount of value not only in the individual conducting the labor but the materials included and the amount of time fully included in doing that work. Labor power is what works sells in exchange for a wage and gives worker more power in who they sell their labor power to. Labor is the work that is being done by humans to produce goods in which a society is contingent on.
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?
   1. The surplus value in its chore essence is just the amount of profit a company makes off of your labor, workers provide value through labor and goods produced. It’s important to know surplus value in social classes because capitalist use exploitation and appropriate to get more labor and under value their workers. Capitalist make more economic profits and the exchange of work and time put into producing goods doesn’t equal the wages that is received. The worker sells their labor power for a wage to be able to buy other goods that is produced as a means of necessity. So the worker is not making a profit but the capitalist is.