- What is the distinction that Reading 4.3 makes between owners and employees? Give an example of each.
The article makes a distinction between owners and employees based on how they earn their income and their relationship to the production of wealth. An owner are individuals or families who derive most of their income from investments or property, such as stocks, bonds, rents, or mineral royalties. Their wealth comes primarily from the labor of others in the companies they own. An example of an owner would be a wealthy restaurant owner in a large franchise or someone who earns income from properties they own and rent out. Employees are individuals who work for a living and earn income through wages, salaries, and fees. For example, factory workers, service employees, professionals, and managers. They are paid for their labor but their earnings are a fraction of the wealth they help create.
2. How do you understand the quote by Adam Smith on pg. 28? What is it saying about labor?
Labor is the foundational source of wealth. The products we buy are not valuable because of their price tags but because of the labor involved in bringing them to market the “real price”. The “nominal price” refers to the monetary value assigned to the product, which can fluctuate or be manipulated in the marketplace, but it doesn’t reflect the true, labor-based value behind it.
3. What are your thoughts on the main argument of Reading 4.4 that class is NOT an identity?
My main thoughts on Heideman’s argument is that class isn’t just an identity but a dynamic, powerful system of exploitation that shapes society. To create substantial change in issues like racism, sexism, and other oppressions, you have to address the capitalist structure that enforces these inequalities. For socialists, class is the central organizing principle that enables them to think strategically about how to undo these systemic power imbalances
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?
I understand the close form dependency is about the structural and material reliance employees and capitalists have on each other. The existence and functioning of one group is dependent on the existence and functioning of the other. For example, workers depend on capitalists for employment and wages to meet their basic needs like food and shelter. Capitalists depend on workers to produce goods and services and generate profits.
