1. The statistic on page 29 that made the strongest impression was that the top 1% of Americans own between 40% and 50% of the nation’s total wealth. I already had known that American income inequality was horrific but to know that less than 300,000 people own more than half of the property, products, and market value of the nation is concerning. It makes the notion of a “Middle Class” a lot less realistic as the gap between “Middle” and “Upper” classes are so vast that you’re more likely to never reach the upper class no matter how much you work.
2. Some of the biggest implications of living in a society with such massive income inequalities could be the monopolization of business, the privatization of the housing market in order to extract further profit, and the inability to ever cross the line from Middle to Upper class legitimately. I see this dynamic play out in how few truly rich people I have ever seen, much less met. I frequently meet people of the middle class, upper middle class, or working class, however I never see anybody who can throw around millions, but their influence is always felt in giant office buildings and industrial sectors bearing their names.

1. In my understanding, the concept of the “Means of Production” generally means the tools used to extract labor, Ie. a Hammer for a Carpenter, a Camera for a Photographer, or sometimes something broad like Industry, Factories, and more. Labor meaning the action of using the “Means of Production” to create something, whether it be philosophical creation of a concept, scientific creation of methodology, or just building a structure like a house.
2. In video 5.1 the idea of value is the effort and resources put into something, a house would take a lot of effort and resources and is therefore valuable, while a bed frame takes relatively less effort and resources, making it intrinsically less valuable. This does not mean that something that takes extremely long to make will be more valuable, and the same applies in vice versa, with something that takes half as long not necessarily being half as valuable.
3. Value is created out of the use of Labor. For example, a Laborer will create a T-Shirt, which is valuable to someone who needs clothes, who will then buy said T-shirt for a fair value depending on the perceived effort and availability.
4. The video refers to labor as the literal action of working and producing, while Labor Power more closely describes what you are able to produce, essentially your productivity or efficiency in production.
5. Surplus value is the excess value extracted from a laborer beyond what they are paid or given in wages, this is directly paid to the owners and bosses, with none of it reaching the hands of the laborer outside of raises and similar circumstances. It’s an important thing to learn about because it sets the understanding for how capitalism extracts the excess value of a laborer in order to gain income, giving us a understanding of how the system of the working class vs upper class functions in practice. A good example might be a Car Manufacturer creating a vehicle per day in the Labor Power of his work, but only receiving 1/100th of the cars value every day.

1. Parenti’s Capital and Labor distinguishes owners as those who live primarily off income generated from investments, such as stocks, rent, and corporate profits, while employees seel their labor in exchange for wage and salaries. Owners derive their wealth from the labor of others, not from their own work. For example a corporate shareholder who recieves quarterly dividends without performing labor is an owner. On the other side, a teacher or factory worker who earns a salary for their labor is an employee. Even high-paid professionals like executives or lawyers, unless they live off investment income, are still technically employees.
2. Adam Smith’s quote, that labor is the “real price” of commodities, emphasizes that all value in goods ultimately comes from the human labor used to produce them. Money is merely a symbol or medium, but what truly gives something value is the work that goes into creating it. This emphasizes the idea that workers are the foundational producers of wealth, and yet, under capitalism, they recieve only a fraction of the value they create while owners profit disproportionately from their labor.
3. “Heideman’s Class Rules Everything Around Me” argues that class is not just an identity like race or gender but a structural relationship based on material dependence and control over production. I believe this distinction is important due to the fact that it highlights how class is not just about a shared lifestyle or income, but about power, who owns, who works, and how society is organized around that division.
4. The “close form of dependency” refers to the direct, ongoing relationship between workers and capitalists: workers depend on capitalists for jobs, while capitalists depend on workers to generate profit. This is unlike other identities, where group membership doesn’t necessarily imply such a direct power relationship. For example a warehouse worker and the corporate owner are locked in a relationship where the former’s survival depends on wages, and the owner’s profit depends on extracting more labor for less pay. This structural dependency is a source of exploitation and potential power for workers when they organize collectively.

1. A repressive state apparatus is the conceptual, economic and literal tools a government uses to keep its ideology dominant. Althusser calls them repressive due to their use as a way to keep society in order through ensuring dissent can cause social or economic ruin to an individual, being forceful through their societal abuse. His word choice also seems to exacerbate how the repressive system is much more forceful, actively ruining your life socially or entirely if you refuse to comply.
2. Ideological apparatus are the much less violent way to force compliance, through the use of mass media, upbringing, and propaganda. They cause the individual to doubt any attempt to resist the state or its apparatus, when a child grows up only knowing that the government can do no wrong it causes the child to doubt how evil the state can truly be.
3. The Repressive state apparatus is different from the Ideological apparatus due to the Repressive state apparatus being a cause of direct harm onto the person socially, economically or physically. The best example of which being unable to afford housing, being beaten by police for committing a crime, or being socially outcasted. However an Ideological apparatus causes the individual to doubt their actions of resistance, believing that it’s pointless, too dangerous, or not even thinking about the situation they’re in beyond what they already know. The Ideological apparatus functions as an almost propagandized life, not knowing that things are wrong and can be changed, while the Repressive state apparatus stops those who attempt to actively fight back.

An example of Ideological Apparatus, it states “Young Builders of communism, forward to new successes in work and study!” attaching the idea of the state ideology to education and success in the younger generations.

An example of a Repressive State Apparatus, which causes physical harm and forces the idea of social nonconformity to the state.

1. Ideology is the frequently pluralistic political guideline followed by an individual, group, nation or government. This can extend to a nationwide or global concept such as Communism and Socialism in the Soviet Union and China to individual morals and beliefs which are often contradictory. Ideology as a political guideline influences many parts of daily life when in control and comprises a general cultural feeling in the society. Using the example of communism again, it begins to become more adopted the more workers rights and way of life are interrupted and endangered as a way to stand up for the workers.

Ideology in my mind tends to be extremely pluralistic as a societal guideline, many socialists have beliefs that do not line up with what a hardline communist community might believe, for example. It tends to be extremely varied, with more than just a left vs right, with extra variables such as Authority vs Decentralization, Individualism vs Communalism, Autarky (Which is impossible in reality, all nations need each other in some way despite what some politicians may claim.) vs Globalism and more. Ideology tends to be extremely fluid, many societies who have attempted to secure a full control over their people ideologically fail as ideology is based in individual and societal upbringing.

2. Conservative vs Liberal ideology in America has always been extremely polarized, even just after George Washington died, the election of 1800 was divided radically between Liberal and Conservative lines. Liberal Ideology in the US has always been a slightly progressive but slow moving ideology, preferring to adopt change as it becomes much needed rather than preemptively making change. Conservative Ideology on the other hand has been the mirrored opposite, slightly regressive and slow moving creating a tug of rope between the American left and right. Despite the Progressive vs Regressive divide the Liberal and Conservative parties are frequently unified against existential threats to the balance, Ie. the Macarthy trials, the entrance into World War 2, and the War on Terror.

3. Althusser is a strict anti-fascist, proven by his (indirect) calling of Fascism a counter-intuitive system. He also seems to dislike capitalism, using the examples of its consumerism, the fear of stepping out of line by not conforming, and its use of economic threats if one should step out of line. He also seems to distrust how the education system is so similar to these apparatus of control, using the examples of structure, discipline for nonconformity and threats of being economically ruined by not following the order of society. I believe one of the most obvious and intentional examples of Althusser’s opinion is the disdain for corporations and the power they hold over the government and people of their society.

1. Southern Politicians used the justification of maintaining “Law and Order” in order to mask their racism in neutral and legalistic language. After the civil rights victories of the 50s and 60s, overtly racist language wasn’t publicly acceptable. Rather than risking their careers southern politicians decided to rebrand resistance to civil rights as a fight against “Crime,” “Anarchy,” and “Lawlessness.” This gave the politicians plausible deniability, they could claim to be protecting communities from crime and drug abuse instead of their true goal of targeting Black activism. It also gave a broader appeal to those who were uncomfortable with the Civil Rights Movement but weren’t overtly racist, making it sound much more appealing.

2. Yes, the Southern Strategy continues to influence American politics, especially in the use of race-coded language to appeal to white voters’ fears without explicitly mentioning race. The recent use of “Law and Order” in the previous Trump campaigns mirrors this, using reactionary ideology such as the “Cats and Dogs” outrage which hid the targeting of Haitian and Black individuals behind false claims of abuse of beloved household pets.