- What is the distinction that Reading 4.3 makes between owners and employees? Give an example of each.
- Owners are the people who own the means of production, where the employees trade their time and their labor for payment. Owners live off of their investments and employees live off of the wages from their labor.
- How do you understand the quote by Adam Smith on pg. 28? What is it saying about labor?
- Smith is saying that labor alone is the way we have to measure all things, that labor is the true value that we must use to “estimate or compare” prices. That money is not of real value.
- What are your thoughts on the main argument of Reading 4.4 that class is NOT an identity?
- I thought it was very interesting how they changed the view of class from lower middle and higher, to people who own capital and those whose labor. That class is not a true identity because we all are reliant on those who own capital for our everyday means. Whether that be the food you’re eating, the car and clothes you buy, or the work you do everyday (unless you are an investor or owner) all those things are reliant on those who own capital for you to be able to experience those luxuries in life.
- 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?
- This form of dependence is similar to what I laid out in response 3, everything we do in our day to day life is subservient to those who own the means of production, whether it is the examples that I said above or many more, we would not be able to do many things in our day to day life without those who own capital. Their ownership of this capital allows us to fit into different roles whether it is consumer and we’re “shopping” and then grabbing a bite to eat or we’re in need of work and find a job doing really whatever, these things all rely on the ownership class to provide for us to have these experiences.
“Class rules everything around me
C.R.E.A.M., get the money
Dollar, dollar bill, y’all
Class rules everything around me
C.R.E.A.M., get the money
Dollar, dollar bill, y’all”
– “C.R.E.A.M.” by Wu-Tang Clan
