1. To my understanding, the means of production are the resources that are used to make goods and provide services. This would include things like tools, machines, technology, raw materials, etc. In Marx‘s view, he believes the means of production are important because they are usually controlled by the capitalists. A factory and the machines that are used to produce products would be the means of production. Labor would be the physical work that people do to produce services. Factory workers using their skills to make clothes would be an example of labor.
2. Value would be the worth of a product. Based on the video value comes from human labor. Because it’s the workers that put in the time and effort into providing these goods, resources become valuable. When human labor is used to turn resources into something that can be useful the time and resources put into creating that something is what helps determine its value. This is what makes value connected to the effort people make in the process of production.
3. Value and labor are connected because labor is the very thing that creates value. Workers use their physical abilities to make goods and provide services. The work adds value to the things that are created from resources. Without any labor resources and machines cannot make value. This connection shows how workers play a very crucial role in producing services.
4. Both labor and labor power are related, but they have different meanings. Labor would be the actual work put in by a person. While labor power is a person‘s capability to work. Labor power goes into someone’s skills, their experience and physical ability in a capitalist system. Workers have to sell their labor power to employers in exchange for their income. Employers use that labor power to produce goods.
5. Surplus value would be the extra value created by employees beyond their paid wages. Marx emphasized that workers can produce more value than what the cost of their wages are. The remaining is profit for the owner. For instance, a worker making products that bring in $1,000 a day to their company being payed only $200 is surplus value. Surplus value plays an important role when it comes to social classes. It explains the relationship employees and employers and the in balance between wealth and power becoming unequal between social classes.

1. Reading 4.3 talks about the main difference between owners and employees being where their income comes from. Employees earn their income from working while owners make a majority of their income from businesses and investments. The reading argues that employees need to sell their labor to make a living while owners build their wealth from the labor of others. For instance an owner would be someone who earns profits from a large corporation. An employee would be an office worker, a teacher, etc..
2. Adam Smith’s quote means that goods and services get their real value from labor. Natural resources by themselves hold no value. Not unless there’s people that use their skills to make them into useful products. This quote is used to argue that workers make wealth through their labor. It’s also mentioned that workers usually only get part of the value that they produce while the business owners keep the majority profits. All in all the quote shows that labor is the true source of economic value.
3. I think reading 4.4 makes a pretty convincing argument about class being different from identities like race and gender. In the reading it’s explained that class is based on a person’s relationship to work and ownership instead of personal characteristics. It’s also argued that people can move between social classes sometimes while race and gender can’t be chosen. At the same time class can influence a person’s experiences or opportunities. I think it would be helpful to see class as a social and economic relationship instead of an identity.
4. I understand the argument as basically saying that class structures are based on people depending on one another for different economic roles. So that would mean workers depend on their employers for wages and job opportunities, while employers depend on their workers to produce goods and generate profits. This establishes a close relationship between the two groups where each group relies on each other. But they do not have equal power. For instance, restaurant owners would have to depend on their cooks and waitresses to keep the business running smoothly. While the employees would depend on the owners for their income. This would be what is discussed in the readings as the foundation of class relationships.

1. In both readings social class is explained as being influenced by more than just income. The different factors mentioned were lifestyle, education and occupation. In the readings it’s talked about how social class does have an affect on the opportunities and experiences people have. Social classes also shapes how people are perceived and also how they see themselves. The main difference is that in reading 4.1 it’s more focused on the characteristics of social classes like occupation, income and education. While in reading 4.2 it’s explained how Americans perceive social classes. Reading 4.2 shows that a lot of people identify as middle class, even though their income puts them in a different category. This shows that social class is not only influence by a person‘s identity, but economic factors as well.
2. The station closest to where I live would be the 1 70th St. station. I would describe the area as mainly lower class with some variation. The area has many people who work healthcare service jobs, education, etc. There are also so many different people with different incomes and housing situations. This is another example of how social class is not just shaped by one factor but multiple. My surrounding area shows that people living in the same neighborhood can also have different educational backgrounds jobs and be in different social classes.
   

1. Faction reminds me of social classes because they were basically groups of people with the same goals. James Madison does explain that factions are groups of people with a common interest that possibly conflicts with the rights of other people. This would be similar to how different political groups compete to influence government. James Madison also believed factions could not be avoided, because people naturally have different interests and goals so instead of eliminating factions he argued that the government should just control the effects.
2. According to Federalist #10, wealth comes from different abilities and skills from different people. Because people have different skills, they earn different amounts of property which also leads to different social classes. James Madison does argue that these differences are an explanation as to why some people become wealthy and others stay poor. I think this explanation is not entirely true because skills do play a factor in getting property, but there are other major factors like family background and education. Wealth can be influenced by both personal abilities and opportunities available.
3. The core mission of the government was to protect people’s rights to own property. James Madison believed that one of the governments most important responsibilities was to protect property. This does come off as a surprise because many people today believe that the governments main purposes are to protect rights, promote welfare and provide public services. Modern society does expect the government to do way more than just protect property.
   
4. I’m not surprised that the Federalist #10 supports a representative republic because James Madison believed that pure democracy, would ultimately allow majority factions to possibly take away the rights of minorities. He argued that our representative republic allows for elected officials to be able to make more thoughtful decisions and reduce the influences of powerful factions. This would also protect property owners from sudden decisions that were made by majority of voters. James Madison believed that representatives could balance competing interest better than direct democracy since the different social classes had different interests. Overall he believed that a republic would be able to better protect people’s rights and property.

1. Some ways the court system is better suited to protect individuals is that judges are expected to fairly apply the law and constitution instead of making decisions based on elections and public opinion. Judges don’t have to campaign for votes so they can make decisions more freely. In courts they’re able to protect the rights of people. For instance a court is able to declare a law passed by a city as unconstitutional. This kind of system helps make sure that rights are protected under the law. I actually don’t think the Supreme Court is anti democratic. Federal judges aren’t elected because it ensure no political pressure. This is to allow for fair interpretation of the constitution. This also helps keep the judicial branch separated from politics.

1. The Supreme Court decided against moving forward with the law suit in the Walmart case as one large class action case. The court had ruled that the woman involved in this case didn’t all experience the same type of discrimination by the company policy. Employment decisions were made by different managers so the claims were deemed as too different to be combined as one case. Because of this, the woman would have to bring their claims to the court individually or in groups. This decision made it harder for bigger groups of employees to file class action discrimination lawsuits against their employers.

1. A Repressive State Apparatus are the authorities in our society that apply laws and enforce punishment. This would be the prison system and the police. It’s the people who make sure rules are followed in society and have authority to enforce punishment. Althusser calls it repressive because he believes the authorities that fulfill these roles also enforce power. He believes that they maintain control in society through these enforcements of law.

2. Ideological State Apparatuses are the institutions that influence the beliefs and ideas of people without force. So in summary they shape the perception people have on things so they follow a system but without feeling like they’re doing so. Some examples would be school and social media.

3. The Repressive and Ideological State Apparatuses differ based on the way they’re applied. The Repressive State apparatus is meant to be a rule, you don’t have a choice you must follow it. If you don’t there will always be consequences. An Ideological Apparatus is basically still a system society follows but it’s based on beliefs that resonate with others so it doesn’t feel like it’s being “enforced”. The difference between the two is one feels voluntary while the other feels forced.

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a) I feel that ideology is honestly just a way of thinking. It shapes how people interpret different situations, opinions and decisions made based on values and beliefs. Having an ideology can influence an individual’s perspective on political, cultural or social matters effecting how they respond to different scenarios. Ideology builds on a person’s point of view of certain ideas and experiences and reflects that person’s perception of the world around them.

b) An example of this would be the education system. Most people strongly believe that getting an education and finishing school is the most important stepping stone for a successful life or career. Others would say that this does not always apply and that creativity, networking and skills are what lead to a successful life instead. These two beliefs show different ideologies about education. On one side the opinion can be influenced by personal experiences while the other may be influenced by that person’s values or environment.

C) From my understanding, Ideology is a way of thinking that is shaped by many different factors in a person’s life. Because not everyone has the same experiences and influences in life, people have different ideologies even when it comes to one issue. It’s essentially a person’s perspective on the world. Everyone has a different way of thinking. Whatever that way may be it shapes different ideologies differently.

2. The ideologies of liberals and conservatives are viewed as opposites because of the different beliefs they have surrounding the role of the government and its involvement in society. Conservatives believe a large government poses a threat to individual liberty and freedom. Therefore, they favor less government involvement in the people’s lives and the economy. Liberals, however believe that the government assisting and intervening can be beneficial when it comes to solving certain problems. Another thing would be how conservatives view liberty as the primary political virtue, Liberals believe that equity is the primary political virtue instead. Liberals focus more on equal opportunities. Conservatives prioritize individual freedom.

3. Althusser defines ideology as an “imaginary relationship of individuals to their real conditions of existence”. I interpret this as ideology being the fact that people don’t see their social realities exactly the way it is. Instead we interpret it through beliefs and values that is taught to us by society and the environment we’re surrounded by. It’s a way of saying that society can be looked at like a system. It’s set up a certain way to operate based on certain beliefs that is maintained by others who have the same ideologies. So even though people have different real life issues their understanding of those experiences are influenced by what they learn over time. Ideology shapes the way people make sense of the world.