1. The war on terror differs from traditional wars because, traditionally a war is fought with the intention to take out a very specific target , a target that is centralized and clear cut. The war on terror makes the lines blurred, there is no clear centralized targets. The target is anyone deemed a threat for one reason or another. It isn’t entirely a war because the other side isn’t entirely connected or involved with the warfare being inflicted into them.
2. The Roving Wiretaps provision of the Patriot Act may violate the fourth amendment  because it allows the government to monitor a suspect’s communications across multiple devices without specifying which device, potentially leading to unreasonable searches and seizures. This lack of awareness can unintentionally capture the communications of innocent people. it may affect the first amendment by creating a fear for speaking freely or associating with others due to the possibility of surveillance.
3. Sneak and Peek warrants were allowed under the Patriot Act. It may also violate the fourth amendment because they let law enforcement search a persons property without immediately notifying them.This delays the individual’s knowledge of the search, making it harder to challenge its legality. It arguably undermines the fourth Amendment’s protection against  unreasonable searches and the right to know when and why your property is searched. Like roving wiretaps, these warrants raise concerns about the violation of constitutional rights.

1. Ruth Gilmore argues that what connects “whiteness” and racism in the social context of racial capitalism is that capitalism demands inequality overall, and racism is the instrument through which inequality is created and sustained. When Gilmore indicates that racial capitalism will not stop being racial even if all white people went away, it is because capitalism operationalizes, and continues as a capitalist system, by establishing hierarchies and unequal relationships irrespective of the racial categories that happen to be involved in any moment in time. The idea of “race” is a tool for capitalism to operate, but it does not require the presence or dominance of whiteness.
2. Ruth Gilmore claims that prisons do more than punish criminals; they also can maintain the “category of ‘criminal person’.” The information suggests that with the expansion of the prison system, there are additional social and political and economic effects, beyond the constant rise in arrest and incarceration rates, that maintain inequality. Gilmore explains “organized abandonment” of marginalized communities contributes to former residents ending up in prisons and that prisons symbolize the management of despair and messy consequences of inequality and where there are no services or support provided to certain at risk populations, prisons create and define the category of “criminal.”
3. Ruth Gilmore characterizes “liberation struggle” as essentially trying to create a real state of freedom, based on materially rooted conditions, where everyone precludes life. It is an agency to collectively combine the materials, the creativity, and obligations, in communities, to be able to nurture people’s capacity to flourish. This struggle is an ongoing contribution to a fight against structures of power and a work to make everywhere a place where we, as humans all can flourish. This requires continuous efforts or mobilization until we ensure flourishing exists throughout community well-being!

In Wal-Mart v. Dukes (2011), the Supreme Court denied a nationwide class-action lawsuit by female employees claiming sex discrimination. The Court’s explanation focused on the absence of “commonality” – one of the requirements for class certification.

The Court’s decision began with its finding that the plaintiffs had not proved a common question of law or fact that applied to the entire class. The Court primarily relied on testimony that Wal-Mart’s decentralized management enabled local managers to make decisions about pay and promotion with discretion. As there was no actual discriminatory companywide policy tied to these reported employment decisions, the reasons related to the alleged discrimination would differ by respective employee and manager. Thus, the Court found that the number of individual employment decisions denied the necessary commonality to be resolved in a single class-action lawsuit.

1) Describe the primary differences in the role of citizens in government, among the federal, confederation, and unitary systems.

The primary differences in the role of the citizens in government among the different systems like the federal system, Confederation system and unitary system would be that in the Federal System power is shared between a national government or local government, the citizens have a direct role they vote for representatives both national and regional levels giving them a say on the policies and laws, In the Confederation System the local government or the states hold most of the power, the central government has very limited authority, the citizens role is mostly interacting with their local government, the national decisions are made by agreements between the states, citizens don’t really have much direct influence over the central government. The Unitary System, the central government has most or all of the power the local governments are there but are controlled by the central authority, the citizens mainly engage with the national government and their local governments just implement the national policies, So the primary differences in the role of the citizens would be that in the Federal System the citizens have the role at both the regional and national levels, In the Confederation system citizens role would be mostly interacting with their local governments and the Unitary System the citizens mostly engage with the central government and their local governments have less power.

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

The system of “Division Power” would be how power is split between the different levels of the government like state, local or government the main idea would be to make sure that not one of the levels of government gets to powerful so it’s about how the power gets spread.

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.

The Federal Government shape the actions of state and local governments by providing financial support, government provided billions in relief funding to help the local and state governments, local governments in New York would have faced bigger challenges if they did not get that funding during that time on top of other things like keeping essential services running, Federal Government also Shaped the pandemic response through public health guidelines the (CDC) or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention they issued recommendations on things like wearing masks, social distancing and reopening phases, this guidelines really made an impact to help shape how the New York state and local governments responded to the virus during the time, Also cooperation between states, New York with several neighboring states working together to prevent any issues and to ensure consistency on how different states were handling the pandemic, The Federal Government really played a major role by providing the Financial support, setting the health guidelines and encouraging the cooperation between the states.

1.Differences in the Part of Citizens in Federal, Confederation, and Unitary Systems
The role of citizens in government is different in federal, confederal, and unitary systems. In a federal system for example the United States the power is shared between the national and state governments and citizens can influence the different levels of government. They vote in both the national and state elections and are affected by the laws that are made at the two levels. A confederation is a system of independent states whose sovereignty is not easily taken away by a central government. This means that citizens engage most with their state governments because the national government has a limited impact on individual citizens. In a unitary system, power is invested in the central government and local governments are subordinated to the national government. Citizens are more likely to be involved with the central government, and have no say in the running of local government, as in the United Kingdom or France.

2. Division of Power and Federal Influence on NY State During COVID-19
   The division of power in the United States is the sharing of power between the federal government and the governments of the states and territories. The federal government has broad powers; states have powers in many areas, and local governments deal with the everyday running of local affairs. This system of government ensures that national concerns are met while at the same time allowing for the needs of the local population to be addressed.

3.During the COVID-19 outbreak, the federal government impacted New York’s response through funding, declarations and regulations. During the pandemic, federal agencies like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offered guidance on how to contain the disease, and Congress approved relief measures such as the CARES Act, which sent funds to states to help with economic stimulation, health care and vaccination campaigns. However, decision making on issues such as mask mandates, business closures, and school closures were mainly the province of state and local governments. FEMA also provided medical supply and personnel, which shows how the federal government is able to influence state actions in case of a crisis.

1) What concept that we have already discussed does “faction” remind you of?

The concept of factions it reminds me of social classes, so just like factions the social classes are groups of people that are united by common interest like social or political like wealthy landowners and merchants against the poor farmers and the working class the laborers.

2) According to Federalist #10 (written by James Madison), what is the source of wealth (private property)? What factor explains why some people get to possess wealth by owning private property, and others don’t (thus remaining poor)? This is a key question, because it shows how the authors of the Constitution thought about the difference between different classes of Americans! HINT: focus on the passage that begins: “The diversity in the faculties (WHAT DOES FACULTIES mean or refer to?) of men, from which the rights of property originate, is not les….”

According to the “Federalist #10” the source of wealth or the private property comes from the natural differences from people’s abilities which Madison calls them their faculties and the faculties would refer as the people’s own talent their skills their natural abilities that they have to succeed in work or businesses, Madison thinks that the difference in abilities demonstrate or shows us how some people can gather wealth and also own their own land or business while others can’t, that the wealthy class is made up of people who has the talents, resources and opportunities to succeed in society while the poor are those who don’t have the same advantages as them, so the difference between wealth comes from natural inequalities between people some are born with more abilities that allow them to get property and succeed economically while other people are not that lucky.

3) Do you agree with this explanation of wealth and poverty?

Personally I don’t agree with Madison on his explanation of wealth and poverty, i mean I do understand that individual abilities and talents can be very important to someone’s success but there can be many other factors that influence wealth and poverty today, more that natural ability, I think that abilities matter but it’s not just about talent on it’s own but also having access some luck and also on how the system we live in.

4) What is the core mission (“first object”) of the US government? Does this surprise you, does it sound different from what our society today seems to suggest the core mission of the government is? Explain.

According to the “Federalist #10” the “First Object” is to protect the rights of property and to ensure that individual freedoms are secured, Madison he believed that the governments main role was to create a system where people could safely use their property without interference from others or more powerful factions, It does surprise me a bit because if you think about the Governments role it’s not just about protecting property but also expecting the Government to provide us access to education or healthcare also it’s about ensuring general welfare and equality and providing for the needs of every citizen not just the wealthy.

5) Given the discussion in questions 1-4, are you surprised that Federalist #10 is not in favor of democracy, and supports a Republican (representative) form of government? Why would d the author dislike a (pure) democratic form of government? Hint: think about how this question connects with the social classes…

Yeah, I’m not really surprised that “Federalist #10” doesn’t favor a pure democracy and instead supports a Republican (representative) form of government it make sense when you consider the time and the concerns of social class and faction that Madison lets us know in his paper, Madison was worried that in a pure democracy the majority which was made up of poorer and less powerful people could make decisions that disadvantage the minority like the wealthy landowners and elites, Madison and the other framers of the constitution didn’t want a system where the majority could just vote on things without considering the long term consequences or the rights of the wealthy people, where the masses could make decisions that hurt the property owning class or disrupt the social class, so a republican form of government with elected representatives looked like the best way to go to ensure that the government stayed stable, controlled and also protect the interests of the elite class while giving the people a voice.

Q1 answer: ideology is a form of social conditioning & status quo that shapes and molds peoples beliefs, perceptions, and attitudes towards specific circumstances and ideas that they typically don’t consciously consider or realize is in place. Primarily the way it’s structured gives into the fed belief that it is for the better and for proper functioning of said system. For example from birth you are told to obey your parents and to listen to everything they say because they know what’s best for you. however this isn’t the case for every person as many people have irresponsible, ignorant, power struggle dynamics with their parents that misdirect & excerise control has a means of power instead of care for their kids. But if a kid falls out of line they will be punished. This can mean physical punishment where a child is powerless to defend themselves. This could also mean taking away certain freedoms like social time and extracurricular activities. As I understand ideology it’s what upholds certain illusions of choice within our society. It is conditioning that we operate off of to continuously strengthen a certain system in place. I also understand it purposely is strenuous to break from. There are systems in place designed to instill fear and control over those who rebel. Many of the systems are orchestrated by large social structures. An example of a social structure that instills fear is religion. Many people fear going against god because of their relationship that starts at home with seemingly authoritative figures. If you go against them you get punished. So to be punished eternally by a unseeable force that will, and has the highest power to grant you “ sovereignty” if you follow its rules, is more capable of making you submissible, than fearing a temporary punishment here on earth. This fear that you begin to internalize is a central element of the systems utilization of control. If you have fear you can be controlled by it. So if you fear god you will fear going against the rules “god” has set for you. You will not question the authority and you will not go against it either.

Q2 answer: the difference between liberal and conservative politics is generally government intervention vs governed independence. liberals believe in government intervention for regulations, and taxes. as well as ensuring that their freedoms of speech, expression, and choice are protected just to name a few. where as conservatives believe in patriotism, traditional beliefs and values, less regulations on taxes, more military funding( patriotism), and protecting their traditional american lifestyle and ideology that everyone should be living by and following( in their words) , living united so to speak under those norms.

Q3 answer: Althusser wanted to understand what made people go against their own interest. and he stated that there is repressive and ideological apparatuses in place. repressive meaning enforcing control through a form of fear. and ideological apparatus meaning enforcing a mental condition into people through social institutions.

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)

So based on the reading the diagram M-C-M can be seen through the lens of Labor power and surplus value for example M(Money) would be like the starting point for capitalist they begin with certain amount of money and the objective would be to make it grow by making it into more money through process of commodity production, which leads us to C(Commodities) the capitalist use the money that they started with to buy means of production like raw materials, machinery and labor of power which is very important to produce the goods and services, M(Money more than original M) after doing all that making and producing the goods and services the capitalist would sell the commodities which in turn will give out more money than they originally invested the extra money they make will be the difference from the first M(Money) and it will be surplus value, so the way capitalist increase their wealth will be by surplus extraction, extraction of surplus value from workers, workers are paid less than the value of the product this is done by extending work hours increase of intensity of work and lowering their wages, so by exploitation of labor power capitalist maintain and also increase their wealth.