The Supreme Court decided to close the Betty Dukes v. Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. case, as they found technical legal issues involving too many women as a problem and could not be seen as a valid case. The court questioned if the plaintiffs could file this type of lawsuit while asking for both injunctive and monetary relief. The court also then thought about how many out of the 1.5 million people shared “commonality”. How many of these women were all actually denied of higher pay, denied of promotions, worked in the same store or under the same management to be filed under the same lawsuit. Legal issues about how the claim came about was also a problem. The women in Dukes filed as a b(2) class, looking for injunctive relief, instead of a b(3) claim, looking for monetary compensation. Almost a billion dollars worth of damages would have to be distributed.

The US has a dual court system, meaning there is a Federal court, protecting the Constitution and basic rights, and then the State courts. State court varies on each state’s laws and hear about 90% of cases involving crimes like robbery, murder, drugs, etc. If you have to deal with a crime committed in your neighborhood, the state court will handle the trial based on circumstances.

Yes, I can see why people call the Supreme Court anti-democratic. Citizens are not able to vote for federal judges, like how we do for Presidents, Mayors, and Congress members. Instead, they are appointed by the President and then approved by the majority vote of the U.S. Senate. This is a form of republic structure rather than a complete democratic structure, as described in Federalist #10. We vote for the leaders who make choices for us, like the picking of judges.

The Establishment Clause prohibits the government from creating laws that favor a certain religion. The Lemon Test has 3 rules that must be met for a law to be found constitutional. The law must have a clear boundary between religion and the government; they should not intertwine. Next, the law must be neutral, not favoring a certain religion. Lastly, the law must have a non-religious purpose for coming about. 

The burning of the US flag is protected by the First Amendment. This is a form of free expression and symbolic speech. In 1984, Texas v. Johnson, Gregory Johnson was arrested in a protest in Texas when he decided to set a US flag on fire. The Supreme Court decided that this was a form of symbolic speech and he was protected under the 1st Amendment. 

When someone says, “I’m taking the Fifth”, it means they are protecting themselves from self-incrimination. You have the right to remain silent and not give evidence to law officers that might make you look like you are responsible for a crime. This is protected under the Fifth Amendment.

1. Based on the arguments presented in reading 6.1 and 6.2, the rich and capitalist class wrote the Constitution while the poor and working class were not allowed to participate. In the late 1700s, only large landowners, merchants, and bankers had a significant influence on the political and economic landscape. Only the white property-owning males were able to vote and help write the Constitution. In both readings, they explained how the economic status of a person was defined through being a slave, indented servants, men who could not qualify for voting because they did not own any property, and women. These groups of people had no representation in the drafted Constitution.
2. I can agree with the statement that the social class structure of early United States society is similar to ours today. When looking at who holds the most economic and political power, nothing much has changed, as it is typically groups of people with a wealthy background. While the wealthy have the most influence on our society, the working class still does not have much say. However, while the social class structure is somewhat similar to the past, we now have gained more opportunities for voting rights for women, people who do not own property, and people of color.
3. The people who wrote the Constitution were afraid of democracy because they feared of having the poor to have any power or equal rights. They wrote the Constitution in a way to protect their wealth and high-class interests like slavery, low taxes, and no debt. They did not allow certain people to vote or have any say regarding their concerns, as they thought the regular people would have too much power and threaten their wealthy lifestyle. When the founders decided to create a system of checks and balances, they concluded that the legislative branch would be organized through the Congress and decided that, regardless of the state and population, there would be only two seats in the Senate. Several people questioned their thought process in this, yet it was never resolved, only ignored. Congress was also given the power to regulate taxes, creating major debt in the working class people by gathering money from them to help the wealthy gain more money.

1. Both readings highlight the role of social class in shaping a person’s position in society. They also point out that the top 1% of Americans control nearly half of the nation’s wealth. A key difference between the two texts is their focus. The first reading explains how individuals understand their class based on salary, education, and where they live. The second reading digs deeper into the divide between the “working” middle or upper-middle class and the “owning” class. It explains that the working class often lives paycheck to paycheck, earning wages by working for those in the owning class. In contrast, the owning class gathers wealth through investments like stocks or real estate. While the working class helps generate their value in the economy, they receive only a small portion of it. This allows the owning class to grow even wealthier by capturing surplus value.

Based on Reading 4.2, do you notice a general pattern about social classes in NYC?

Based on Reading 4.2, a general pattern of social class divisions is clear in New York City. Millions of people go to work each day. Not for themselves, but in service to others, often for large corporations backed by wealthy shareholders. While these workers earn just enough to meet daily expenses and return to modest apartments or studios, the company owners may own multiple penthouses and properties beyond the city. New York is also home to many small businesses, particularly in the outer boroughs. Unfortunately, most family-owned businesses struggle to survive due to the high cost of rent and goods. In many cases, members of the upper class are the ones collecting rent from middle class people attempting to create their own businesses. This created a large wealth distribution between neighborhoods.

1. Means of production refer to the tools, machines, or resources that are privately owned and used to produce goods for profit. Labor is the human effort required to create, transport, or sell those goods. For example, a large truck or ship used to deliver goods across states or countries is part of the means of production. The truck driver or ship captain provides the labor that is needed to transport those goods to their destination.
2. Value is how much a product is worth, based on how much labor it took to produce the product under normal circumstances.
3. Labor and value are related because, based on the video, he explains that the more labor that was put into a product, the more value it holds. Like he explained, a block of wood holds the same value it was bought for, however, if you can turn the wood into a chair, you have now increased the value as it is something more useful. The more time you spend on a product, the value on it will increase. Marx describes this as the Labor Theory of Value.
4. Labor power can be best described as human ability to work. You need your time, energy, and skills to put in work for something. Labor, on the other hand, can be described as the finishing product that comes from your labor power.
5. Surplus value is the extra profit that an owner or employer earns from a worker’s labor. When workers use their time and energy to produce goods or services, they increase the company’s overall value. However, the profits made often go to the owner, while the workers receive only a small portion in the form of wages. For example, a Target employee may work eight hours a day restocking shelves, assisting customers, and operating the register, earning close to minimum wage. Meanwhile, the company earns much more in revenue from the products sold during those hours. The difference between what the worker is paid and the value they help create is the owner’s surplus value.

1. In Reading 4.3, a distinction is made between owners and employees. Owners generate their income through the labor of their employees, while employees work to grow the owners’ businesses. For example, a wealthy and large corporation, such as Chase Bank, makes approximately $177.6 billion in annual revenue. Meanwhile, the average employee at Chase earns around $75,000 per year, with top earners making up to $220,000. Although these employees work in the same building and company daily, their earnings are significantly lower than those of the shareholders and top executives who profit most from the business’s growth.

2. Adam Smith says that labor is the true source of a company’s value. Wealthy individuals would not achieve their status without the work performed by their employees, whether for their businesses or other investments. It is the outcome and success of the business that holds real significance, money only reflects the status of that success.

3. I think Paul Heidman made some excellent points, describing how most people like to categorize themselves into a class of identity based on race or gender, but need to realize that there is much more to a person through their actions and position in society. He explains that class is much more than how you describe yourself, it is a structure of what your position is and reflects how people relate to work, ownership, and power, not their personality.

4. This argument, “class structures are built around a close form of dependency,” describes that each class is dependent on the others. Owners need their workers to help keep their business alive by using their time, labor, and skills. The workers need the owners to get a job to survive and make money through the owners. The owners typically do have more control and power, but both owners and workers are mutually needed in society. This is where your role in the system is more defined.

A statistic on wealth inequality that left a strong impression on me is that 90% of American families have little or no net assets. This disparity is influenced by the wealth of one’s family at birth. As Michael Parenti states, “Most people die in the class to which they are born. The superrich usually come from families that have inherited vast fortunes. And the poor usually stay poor, no matter how hard they toil. In fact, there is less upward social mobility today than a generation ago. The level of inequality in the United States is higher than in any other industrialized nation, and it continues to grow.

Many wealthy Americans today inherit their fortunes through family owned businesses, often stepping into leadership roles after a previous family member passes away. The top 20% of Americans continue to increase their wealth at a rate 13 times higher than the poorest 20%. Even more crazy, the top 1% have seen their income grow by nearly 600% over the last three decades. According to the text, “In 1973, CEOs earned about 30 to 40 times more than their workers. By 2009, they were making 317 times more.” Despite this, CEOs only collect 3 to 4 percent of a company’s profits, most of the profits go to shareholders.

It’s difficult to grasp the amount of wealth held by so few individuals in America. Their fortunes often rely on businesses that could not succeed without the hard labor of underpaid workers. It is the labor of these workers that truly creates the wealth and value.

2) Some implications of living in a society that has such large wealth inequalities are that the prices of goods are more easily manipulated by the wealthy. The wealthy strive to make as much money as possible to impress their shareholders and investors. On page 31, it states, “A small number of giant corporations control most of the U.S. economy. The trend is toward ever greater concentrations as giant companies are swallowed up by supergiants in industries such as oil, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, media, health insurance, weapons manufacturing, and banking”. We deal with these companies every day and have no say in how much their prices for goods are or have any control over them. Independent family owned businesses have no choice but to shut down due to larger companies having the money to create products faster and more efficiently, like having large machines compared to hands on work by a smaller business. This also leads to these large companies down sizing to needing less employees, creating less work available for people who do need jobs. The wealthy create poverty and relies on it to continue their growth.

1. The Repressive State Apparatus is a way of controlling our society through force. Examples include police authority, courts, and the prison system. These institutions enforce laws and punish those who rebel against them or the system. This brings fear into people rebelling as they do not want to face consequences or possibly jail time. Althusser calls it repressive because people are not “free” to do what they want without being governed by a higher authority figure. An example is when police break a protest through using physical force and arresting individuals.

2. Ideological State Apparatuses help shape our minds into believing that the society we are born into is natural and unavoidable. These work through schools, religion, mass media, and culture. We tend to try to fit in with our peers and want to belong to a group without seeming left out. School is one of the biggest factors because we submit to people of higher authority at such a young age, almost every day of our lives.

3. Repressive and Ideological State Apparatuses are different from each other because the Repressive Apparatus uses force, fear, and punishment to govern people and their actions. This is how to deal with rebellion. However, Ideological Apparatus is a more subtle way to control someone by shaping their mind to believe in a capitalist economy by using education and media to follow the correct rules. This is used to prevent rebellion.

4.

I thought this was a great example of Ideological Apparatus. We are all taught that what’s best for us is to always follow the typical “norm,” and that we are free, but we can not be free without the government’s permission first.