The M-C-M formula explains clearly how capitalists maintain their wealth. M stands for money and C stands for commodities. However, M’ will always be less than M’’, as a key factor in this formula is reselling. A reseller will want to turn a profit and sell their commodity for more than they bought it for.
Capitalists use money to purchase commodities. These commodities can include machinery, buildings, labour power, and other resources. Labour power is the only commodity that can create more value than its costs. Workers receive a salary for their labour, however they produce more value than what they are being paid. After a a good or service is produced they are sold for a higher amount of money, as this leads to a surplus value and leads to profit for the capitalists.
An example would be a factory owner, who would invest money in resources, labour and machinary. The workers will turn the resources into a product that will be sold more than their value, allowing the final product to be sold for more than its original worth. The owner can then buy more products and generate a cycle of wealth.

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1. Means on production are the resources used to produce a good or service, an example is a hair dresser needing training, scissor, a hair dryer, combs and a brush in order to provide a service. Labour is work performed to create goods or services, so this would be a hairdresser cutting your hair.

2. Marx states that value comes directly from human labour, the more labour is put into a good or service the more value it has. The worth of a product is more than its existence but the effort put into producing it. Automated goods or services tend to cost less due to the lack of human labour. A handmade shirt has value because of the time and effort it took a person to make it, a shirt made by sew-bots would cost significantly less as they have no human labour behind them.

3. Labour and value are related as labour provides value to a good or service. In order for a product to have value it must have labour behind it, the more labour is put into a good or service the higher value it has. A piece of glass had value, but when you add labour, and turn that piece of glass into a sculpture it has more value, as time is money.

4. Labour is the physical or mental work being done to produce a good or service. Labour power is a worker’s ability to work. Working a 9-5 is allowing workers to use their ability of working for eight hours. During those hours they produce more value than they are paid, and their employers reaps the benefit of their work, this concept is called surplus value.

5. As mentioned in my previous answer, surplus value is the difference between what an employee gets paid and the amount of value they produce. If an employee produces $500 worth of work but only receive $150, their boss receives $350 of labour. Surplus value is important because it explains what each class wants. Workers want higher salaries and better working conditions, while capitalists want to maximize profit and production. This leads to tension between the working class and capitalists.

1. In 4.3 the reading states that the different between owners and employees, is that owners live off their investments, this means nonliquidated assets like stocks and realestate. Employees on the other hand, live off salaries and paychecks. Jeff Bezos is the founder of Amazon, he is one of the wealthiest men in our generation, and on the days that he is not working, Bezos is able to make money off the employees who make money for him, and he can live off his stocks and realestate. Now an employee of Bezos like an delivery driver does not have anyone working under them, and they would make a living off their salaries.

2. Smith’s quote states that a company is nothing without it workers, nd that labor is the most powerful thing you can have. Elon Musk would not be the wealthiest man in the world if it weren’t for the people working for Tesla. A machine will not function without energy, without it , it’s just metal.

3. I believe that Heidenman’s argument is correct. Identity can consist of gender, race and religion, however someone economic background is about their economic situation, not identity. Economic situations can change, however identity like race can not. If someone grew up in a low income house hold, and later become successful and wealthy, their financial situation has changed but their identity has not.

4. Heidenman’s argument states that class is based on individuals dependency on each others finances. When he says “close form of dependency” he is referring to different types of people need one another in order to thrive. Just how owners need their workers, workers need their employers. A coffee shop hires a barista, the barista relies on the owner to make money and the owner needs to barista to help around the shop and operate it while they are away.

1. Ideology is a set of beliefs, values, and outlook that people use to dissect the world around them. It influences how we perceive societal issues, the economy, politics and right from wrong. There are many factors that effect someone’s ideology; parents, education, religion, social media, and friends. When it comes to ideology in politics, it is how individuals makes political decisions and choices based on their own experience.
   Using myself as an example, growing up my parents were both independent voters, meaning that they did not support the democratic or republican party. And during the COVID-19 pandemic, I surrounded myself with people who leaned left and were liberal in their beliefs, I also consumed media that leaned heavily left, so I became liberal. When returning back to in-person school, I made friends who were conservative, and slowly I became conservative leaning. Joining the church further solidified this, as conservative values are centered around religion. This is a perfect example of how people, media and religion can affect your political ideology.
   Understanding ideology is important because it allows us to understand each others pasts, and how that has affected their outlook on life. Michael Parenti states that dominant ideologies shape how people view politics and society, depending on what side you lean, some people may believe that anything is possible for anyone and that we are equal, or that some people have it harder than others and they should be given a helping hand because of it. Ideology affects what we believe is possible.
2. There are many difference between conservative and liberal ideologies when it comes to government. Liberals value equality for all. The government should play an active role in promoting their value of equality, this means regulating big businesses, protecting civil rights and creating programs to help people who need it. They believe that to achieve equality that some people need extra leverage to achieve it. Whereas, conservatives believe that the field is leveled, and acknowledging that people are at a disadvantage hurts rather than helps. Conservatives value a smaller government as they would have more freedom, their key value.
   An example that depicts both ideologies is DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion). DEI programs are supported by liberals as they believe that there is still racial factors that attribute to someone success, DEI when it comes to applying to college means holistic admissions, meaning that aside from your grades, admissions must factor in your personal background such as; income and personal hardships. Liberals believe that this allows an equal playing field that makes it fair to everyone. Conservatives do not support DEI as they believe DEI prioritize personal background over achievements, meaning that if two students were both equally qualified, the one who has more adversity would be picked, even though they have achieved similar goals.
3. Althusser’s definition for ideology was more than political position, but an individual’s outlook on the world. People do not chose their own ideology, but rather ideology is created through their lived experience like family, education, religion and social media. These influence individuals to have certain values and beliefs. Althusser believes that ideology is most effective when people do not realize they are being influenced, as allowing individuals to fit into different societal groups allows them to fit their role. An example of this would be school. Similar to the video, school is a place for learning but it is also where students learn obedience and authority, making them a place not only for educating the youth about basic knowledge but also on their ideology. Althusser’s definition focuses on the many rather than the few, leaning into how everyday life effects the tides of an ideology battle.