Reading 4.3 explains that owners control businesses, property, or resources, while employees have to sell their labor to get by. For example, an owner might have a factory, company, land, or store. An employee is someone who works there for wages but does not own the business or share in the profits.

To me, Adam Smith’s quote means that labor is the true source of value. Before money, profit, and property mattered so much, people survived by making or producing things through their own work. Labor is more than just a job; it is what creates wealth from the start.

I agree with Reading 4.4’s point that class is not just an identity. Class is not about how someone feels or what label they pick. It is about a person’s place in society and their connection to work, money, and ownership. Even if someone identifies differently, if they need to work for wages to live, they are still part of the working class.

When Reading 4.4 says class structures are based on a close kind of dependency, I take it to mean that owners and workers rely on each other, but not in the same way. Owners need workers to make profits, and workers need owners for jobs and wages. For example, in a fast-food restaurant, the owner needs employees to cook, clean, and serve, while employees need the job for income. The relationship is close, but it is not equal because the owner usually has more control.