1. What is the distinction that Reading 4.3 makes between owners and employees? Give an example of each.

The distinction between owners and employees is that the owning class (or capital class) lives off the work produced by their employees. They don’t depend on a salary; instead, they earn profits from their assets, which include investments like real estate, stocks and bonds, rare minerals, and land. In contrast, employees (or the labor class) need to work for a living and rely on a salary.

2. How do you understand the quote by Adam Smith on page 28? What is it saying about labor?

I interpret Adam Smith’s quote, “labor… is alone the ultimate and real standard by which the value of commodities can at all times and places be estimated and compared. It is their real price; money is their nominal price,” to align with Abraham Lincoln’s idea that “Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.” Essentially, it means that labor—the work done by people—has true value, whereas money is just a symbolic measure. The working class is more valuable because they do the actual work.

3. What are your thoughts on the main argument of Reading 4.4 that class is NOT an identity?

My view is that liberals miss an important point: class is not just a separate identity, but a relationship of interdependence. Unlike the independence that characterizes other aspects of identity (like race or gender), the classes rely on each other. Capitalists depend on workers for production, and workers depend on capitalists for wages. Liberals’ way of thinking about class as a ladder and viewing it as more quantitative than qualitative complicates their efforts to address oppression, especially when fighting for racial and gender equality. This approach makes it harder to fully tackle the underlying issues of exploitation.

4. How do you understand the argument Reading 4.4 makes when stating that “class structures are built around a close form of dependency”? What is this close form of dependency, and can you think of an example?

The close form of dependency means that both the capitalist and the worker rely on each other. Capitalists depend on workers for production to generate profits and satisfy investors. On the other hand, workers depend on capitalists for a paycheck to support their families. An example of this is a labor strike: if workers stop working, there are no products for the capitalists to sell. But without the capitalists, workers have no jobs, no salary, and no way to feed their families. This creates a mutual dependency that is central to class structures.