Ruth Gilmore once said “Capitalism will stop being racial capitalism when all the white people disappear from the story”. She believes all capitalism is racial capitalism because it depends on racial hierarchy. The connection between “whiteness” and racism is the capitalists (the people who are at the top of the hierarchy) are wealthy white men who gain profit by exploiting the working class and poor who are the minorities. Throughout this semester, we have seen how capitalism drives inequality. Specifically, capitalism does not promote equality for all and does not protect or benefit all people. The sole purpose of capitalism is to protect the wealth of the wealthy who are majority white people. The labor from the minority group(majority African American) is used to benefit the capitalist. This resembles slavery times where slaves were exploited to bring in profits for their racist owners.
Ruth Gilmore believed prison systems create criminals because the prison system defines criminalization as a steady stream of criminals who keep coming. She believed the category of a criminal person can be perpetuated based on how a person acts within society, when they were in the system and had the chance to go back home into their community (“re-entry”). However, the prison system is not solely built to punish the criminals, but also serves as the solution to surpluses specifically in people. This causes a revolving door for people who were considered “surplus” through capitalism to be thrown in jail. I agree with her view because instead of helping the people solve their issues and get to the root of the problem, they are just being thrown in jails to deal with worse conditions. By the time they are released, they are more likely to commit crime because of what they endured in prison and never receiving the proper help they needed. Instead of providing people with the resources they need, the solution is to send people to jail.
My understanding of Ruth Gilmore’s concept of liberation struggle is liberation is based on where people live, but it happens everywhere. It is based on the struggles and needs of people in their communities. She believed in order to end racial capitalism, one step necessary to take is abolishing the prison system. She believed there should be better resources given to replace the prison systems. Liberation struggle is a form of solidarity where the people of communities continuously join together to fight for change.
According to Martin Luther King, the difference between a just and unjust law is the effect the law has on humans and whether it is moral or not. He believed a just law is one that uplifts human personality and follows the standard of moral laws. An unjust law does not follow the standard of moral laws and degrades the human personality. To me, this means a just law is one that makes sense because it is in place to protect ALL people. Unjust laws are only meant to protect certain groups of people and are not fair to ALL people.
In my perspective, it is a very important distinction between just laws and unjust laws. I also believe it makes a difference in the way someone lives their life. Just laws are fair to all because everyone MUST obey them. However, unjust laws are only meant to be obeyed by a minority (class or race)group. Martin Luther King believed it is our legal and moral responsibility to obey just laws. He also believed it was solely our moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I agree because in MLK’s era, segregation laws were inhumane. Their sole purpose was to attack African Americans and strip away their human rights. This is more than enough motivation for someone to rebel against unjust laws and not obey the laws that make them feel less equal or valued to others. This affects politics because in the event that an unjust law is in place, people can choose to protest using sit ins and marches(anything to disrupt the flow of society) to force the government to comply with their wants and needs.
An example of a just law today is the equal opportunity law. This law ensures no one can be discriminated against at work or school and makes sure everyone is given equal opportunities and have equal access to the same resources. Using MLK’s definition, this is a just law because it creates equality among ALL people without degrading anyone in the process. In the US today, an example of an unjust law would be in certain states, transgender athletes cannot participate in the same sports team as they identify with. This is an unjust law because it’s attacking one group (transgender) and degrading their emotions and who they are.
In the Betty Dukes V. Walmart case, the Supreme Court denied the back pay for 1.5 million women who experienced gender discrimination while working for the corporation. The reason that it was denied was due to the misclassification of the class action relief filed by the plaintiffs in the case. Under rule 23 of the Civil Procedure, class action lawsuits and the form of relief the classes may receive are separated into two categories. The first class is b(2) and this is where a class is looking for declaratory or injunctive relief. The second class is b(3) and this is where a class is looking for monetary relief. In this case, Dukes filed as a b(2) class instead of b(3) and were denied back pay because they did not do a b(3) claim. Additionally, the Supreme Court did not believe Dukes met the commonality requirement amongst all plaintiffs. The plaintiffs may have shared a common issue (gender discrimination at the workplace) but did not share the same managers, or were insulted in the same way. Commonality requires a class to share the same problem and also have a common solution to the problem that can compensate all members of the class at once. Due to the multiple differences among the women within the class, their cases could not be settled all at once. In the end, the Supreme Court ruled the 1.5 million women did not meet the requirements of being a “class” and could not file a class action lawsuit.
The court system is better suited to protect the individual, instead of the elected branches of government because the court system varies among the states and each state has different laws regarding certain matters that may conflict with federal laws. For example, in some states marijuana may be legal but under federal law, to buy large amounts of it or be in possession of large amounts of the drug is still a crime. In this case, it is best for the courts to hear this to better protect the rights of the individual especially if the drug is decriminalized in the specific state. If this case is heard in lower court, depending on the amount of substance contained, the individual is less likely to do jail time as one would if the case was in front of Supreme Court or elected branches of government. Instead, the individual can possibly participate in a program to prevent having a record. The dual court system specifically protects individuals basic rights, ensures our constitutional rights are not violated and also gives us multiple ways to be heard and seen in court. Since each state court is different, it increases the chances for ALL individuals to be heard no matter their race or background. According to Melinda Hall and Paul Brace, the state courts are essential to democracy because they provide alternatives for individuals and if your case is not heard in one setting, it can be seen and heard somewhere else within the court system. Overall, the dual court system creates an equal opportunity for everyone to be treated fairly and just and ensures no one’s rights are violated.
I do agree and believe the Supreme Court is an anti-democratic part of our government. I agree because I found it weird that all the other parts of government are ran by people who must get voted in, but here it is completely different. At the federal level, the judges are nominated by the president and confirmed by the Senate. This leaves the people and states with no voice or input to say who should be the judge serving a lifetime commitment. This decision is solely placed into the hands of the white and wealthy class. According to the reading, the presidential nominees for higher up judges is a reflection of their own ideological thoughts and beliefs. The reason as to why federal judges are chosen this way is to keep the presidents ideological system in place for ideally a lifetime. Just like in the Federalist #10 where white and wealthy men who were educated and born into families who had many resources had a leading role in government, the same applies to the Supreme Court system. It was insane to learn how in 2009 only 1%-8% of the court system consisted of women and minorities. 70% consisted of white men and 15% consisted of white women. From hundreds of years ago up until today, we still see how much power and control the rich has over the working and poor class and the advantage white people have over minorities.
The Establishment Clause ensures the government does not FORCE religion or church onto the people in society. It also stops the promotion of one religion over another. This keeps the balance within society for people to believe in their individual beliefs without being forced into it. I agree and believe this clause helps maintain peace throughout the world because of it is based on equality. The Lemon Test is a test for finding out if a law or action that might promote a specific religious practice should be able to stand. There are three criteria that must be met for a law to be found constitutional and remain in effect: 1. The law must not lead to the entanglement between religion and the government, 2. The law cannot advance one religion, it must remain neutral, and 3. The law must have a purpose outside of religious purposes.
Burning the US flag is protected by the First Amendment. After the Texas V Johnson case in 1989, Supreme Court ruled burning of the US flag is a form of symbolic speech. Gregory Lee Johnson burned the US flag as a form of protest and this symbolic speech is protected in the First Amendment. However, states and government do have laws to protect the US flag from being destroyed or damaged. Symbolic speech creates a bigger impact than just using words because it brings more attention to the cause of the protest.
When someone says “I’m taking the fifth”, this means the person is choosing to remain silent to prevent self incrimination. In the Fifth Amendment, this provision gives people the right to deny giving any information or any form of evidence regarding the case to the courts or police. This also ensures our protection in not admitting to the commitment of a crime. Additionally, during a trial a person has the right to not testify in their own defense. The prosecution in return cannot be bias or assume the suspect is refusing to testify because they are not innocent. In 1966 the result of the Miranda V Arizona case was the addition of “the right to remain silent” during the reading of your Miranda Rights by the police. Now law enforcement must let you know before they interrogate you, that you do not have to say anything at all.
Ms Williams states in her essay that the war of terror is a new type of war because it is a “war of the mind”. She says it is “against unruly emotionalism”. The emotion here is fear. She believes the enemy is any person who scares you. For example, we see in the war of terrorism how people’s minds were starting to believe the people who make you afraid, are the enemy. This is different compared to traditional wars because traditional wars were against specific targets, specific land, and specific resources. The traditional wars were not battles being fought in the mind.
The “Roving Wiretaps” was a technique law enforcement uses to spy on their targets(spies/terrorists). This technique allows law enforcement to tap electronic devices for important information from a suspect. This provision violates the Bill Of Rights, specifically the Fourth Amendment. The Fourth Amendment prevents the government from searching our property or taking evidence without a warrant issued by a judge. However, through this provision in the Patriot Act, this amendment right is no longer supported.
“Sneek and Peek” warrants allow the FBI to search the home or business of their suspect without informing them. The Patriot Act allows this technique to be used for any type of crime, including minor crimes. This also violates the Fourth Amendment because the suspect is not aware their property is being searched. They find out later and law enforcement must have a good reasoning for them to delay the notice to the suspect.
There are many differences in the role of citizens in governments, among the federal, confederation, and unitary systems. In the Federal system, there are two levels of government, but both levels(state government and national government) are elected by the citizens. In the Confederation system, the states hold the power and the national government is considered weak. The government must have permission from the states and citizens before they act. In Unitary systems, the national government holds the power and the states and citizens depend on the national government.
The system of Division of Power is a method where power and authority is equally split among groups in order to prevent any group from taking complete power and control. For example, the US government is divided into three branches and each branch has a function and role to play within the government. If one branch feels as though another branch is gaining too much power, the people within the branch can use checks and balances to limit the power of the other branch. In my opinion, this system is smart because it maintains equality throughout the government. It also reminds me of a seesaw because due to the division of power, the government must remain properly balanced in order to work properly. On a seesaw, you must balance two different people with different weights and in the government, the branches may have different roles but the main goal is still to balance each other out.
The federal government mainly shapes the actions of state and local governments through grants, governmental funding, and mandates. The federal government will either give the state and local governments funding for specific programs in return of their compliance with certain conditions or the federal government will create laws that the state and local governments must obey. If they do not comply, they take the risk of losing funding from the federal government. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the federal government sent a lot of aid to the states to assist with public health, public schools and finding medicine and cures to lower fatality rates of the virus. However, this meant the states started offering incentives to the people in order to get more people vaccinated. These incentives included checks, free subway rides and more as the incentives varied among the states. However, I wonder why the government pushed for the Covid-19 vaccine to be administered to everyone and once said it was mandatory to be vaccinated in order to work, but five years later in 2025, it is no longer mandatory to have the vaccine.
Based on both readings, the social class who wrote the constitution was the wealthy class. The working class and poor were not allowed to participate in the process. In the first reading, it explained how “ordinary working people” could not afford to take four months off from work to go assist in writing the constitution. The first reading also explained how the Founding Fathers were wealthy and powerful men and how Madison believed wealth and power is measured by property a person owns. The second reading further explained how the slaves, indentured servants, women, and men who did not own any property ( also known as the “disenfranchised”), were not apart of the writing of the constitution. These differences also played a major role in determining one’s right to vote. Only white males who owned property were able to vote and minorities, women, indentured servants, and white males who lacked property were not allowed to vote.
I believe the social class structure of early United States society is the same as ours today. From then to now, there has been some improvements to create equality amongst everyone in the society, but there is still a long way to go until everybody will be treated equally. The wealthy still controls a major part of society which happens to contain majority of white males who own stocks, land or property. The working class and minorities have now earned the right to vote, but are still beneath the wealthy on the social class ladder.
The people who wrote the Constitution were afraid of democracy because they did not want to lose their power. They believed only the wealthy and those who inherited wealth through birth, should control the government and society. They wanted to remain wealthy by having full control over properties, currency and the overall welfare of society. They could not imagine being considered equal to the working class, indentured servants and minorities. To keep their position of power, this is another reason why they did not abolish slavery.
Faction reminds me of social class. Each social class consists of groups of people who share common interests. The common factions would be the “haves” (wealthy) and the “have-nots”(poor/ working class).
Madison states “the diversity in the faculties of men, from which the rights of property originate” and then says “From the protection of different and unequal faculties of acquiring property, the possession of different degrees and kinds of property immediately results and from the influence of these on the sentiments and views of the respective proprietors , ensues a division of the society into different interests and parties.” I believe this means Madison determines wealth with a the amount of property owned by the individual and amount of resources they have. He acknowledges the division amongst social classes based on the social background you are born into. The resources a wealthy person has will never be the same resources a working class or poor person has access to. This is unfair in my opinion because some people are only wealthy by being born into a family who was already rich. While others must work for a living and still be treated unfairly. This is what divides society into the “haves” and the “have-nots”.
I do not agree with this explanation of wealth and poverty because the family we come from and the amount of property we own should not determine our social class. I should not be labeled as poor just because I do not own property, stocks or land. I should not be treated less than because I was not lucky enough to be born into a family of wealth. I also believe the wealthy should not have as much power as they do just based on the amount of assets they have. I believe the amount of hard work, time, and effort placed into becoming wealthy is what really matters.
The first object of the of the US government was to “protect these faculties”. They wanted to protect the wealthy class because of the amount of property they own. They wanted to take away the freedom of the lower social classes by destroying liberty and if need be, enforcing the same opinions and interests on every member of society. This does not surprise me and does not sound different than how the government runs today. The government still protects the wealthy class and leaves the working class to struggle. Especially in the world today, so many budget cuts have stopped many resources that once were available to help the working and poor class. Now the money and funding is going into things only the wealthy can gain from such as casinos and more expensive health care systems.
I am not surprised the Federalist #10 supports a Republican government because the framers who created the Constitution were white males who were wealthy and owned property. Their only concern was remaining wealthy and maintaining their position at the top of the social ladder to control society. Madison disliked a pure democratic form of government because that would mean everybody had a voice and could challenge the wealthy on things they could not agree on. The wealthy class is only concerned with remaining wealthy and the best interests of their class. Like Charles Beard said, ” there’s a strong difference between the desire to build a strong nation and the desire to protect the wealth and the framers could not have been motivated by both”. So instead of creating a society where everyone is equal, they rather have complete control and continue to mute the working and poor class.
Means of production are the tools used to create products. These tools are privately owned by the capitalists or businesses, not by the worker. For example, in healthcare the means of production would be the hospitals, technology used for communication between the doctors and patients, MRI machines, and tools used to perform surgical work. Labor is the physical work that goes into creating something. It is measured in time and increases the value of the product. For example, in healthcare the physical building or surgical tools do not save lives within itself. It is the doctor who performs surgeries using the proper tools that save lives.
Value is “measured by how much labor it takes to produce under normal circumstances.” This means the more time,energy, and effort placed into making something, the more valuable it is. One example is from the video when the concept of value was explained using wood as an example. If you get a piece of wood and do nothing to it, the value will remain the same. However, if you carve the wood into a chair, the value of the wood will increase.
Labor and value are related because labor is needed in order to produce or increase value. Value is measured by the amount of labor put into the product. For example, if you work for only one hour carving wood to create a chair, it will have a basic foundation and will not have details. However, if you spend more time adding details to the chair, the value will increase.
Labor is the physical active work that goes into making something. Labor power is the workers ability to do the work. Additionally, labor power is only found in people, and labor can be done by people and machines. In order to sustain labor power, the worker must have the basic means of life. These include food, shelter, and clothing. Without the basic means, a worker cannot work to their best ability.
Surplus value is the additional work the laborers put into the production of products that they do not get paid for. The extra value created only becomes the profit gained by the capitalist.This is important to know because this is the reason the working class will always struggle, while the rich continue to prosper off the labor of the working class.
