1. Any just law that promotes human dignity and uplifts the human personality is just. Laws that encourage harmony and align with natural human thinking protect individuals and prevent harm. Conversely, any law that undermines human dignity and degrades the human personality is unjust. Such laws are intentionally designed to discriminate against certain groups of people. 

Race laws are unjust because they promote segregation, which distorts the soul and damages the personality. Examples of such laws include segregated bus stops and restaurants designated for specific groups of people based on skin color. Educational degrees that are only available to certain groups of people or restrictions on education for certain populations are also examples of unjust race laws. 

Religious laws often maintain the superiority of the powerful minority over the people, and limit freedom by treating individuals as servants of those in power. 

Gender laws that favor one gender over the other, with gaps in payment, benefits, and rights, are unjust. 

Political laws that discriminate against certain groups or misrepresent them during government elections are unjust. 

2. Societies should work towards achieving justice and ensuring that human rights are available to everyone, without discriminating against anyone. To achieve a fairer distribution of resources, every person should receive what they rightfully deserve. Justice requires maximizing the common good and ensuring that basic goods that are essential to human dignity are distributed equitably. This can be achieved by implementing a free market with minimal government intervention, guaranteeing equal freedom and opportunities for all individuals, and ensuring equality in the distribution of income, wealth, and other basic goods. 

3. As an example of a fair law we have the Federal Fair Housing Law that prohibits discrimination against people in access to housing for the following reasons: Race or color, national origin, religion. As an example of unfairness, we have the law that refuses to grant legal status to dreamers, young migrants who came to the United States as children, most of whom are diligent, very hard-working, and who make great contributions to the country in terms of education and payment of taxes. 

On June 20, 2011, the United States Supreme Court ruled on the Betty Dukes v. Wal-Mart case. The Court decided that approximately 1.5 million women could not be considered a valid class of plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against Walmart for employment discrimination. Betty Dukes was the lead plaintiff, and she and others claimed that Walmart’s policies and practices discriminated against gender employees in terms of pay and promotion opportunities.
Both parties argued whether the class met the traditional commonalities requirements of numerosity, similarity, and typicality.
The Court ruled that it could not proceed as any type of class action since the grounds did not meet the certification of a class action. It was incredibly difficult to certify a class, the requirement to examine the merits of the class required an immense amount of documents supporting it. The balance of this situation would have changed if those 1.5 million women had brought together a single common argument that united them since numerous cases supported aspects of discrimination but in different contexts, conditions that made them inadmissible due to the lack of agreement that required the certification of rules 23(a) and 23(b)(2), some examples of inadmissibility were the diversity of Walmart store locations, the diversity of supervisors who carried out the discrimination, or the type of discrimination faired the complainants).

1. The various types of government include federal, confederation, and unitary systems. In a federal system, citizens can vote and participate in the government. In a confederation system, citizens have more power, whereas in a unitary system, citizens do not have a voice, and power is concentrated in the central government. In federal and confederation systems, citizens participate directly, whereas the unitary system does not allow citizen participation. Under a unitary government, power is centralized in the national government, while in a confederation government, power is concentrated in individual states. In a federal government, power is shared between the state and national governments, and citizens vote for representation. 

2. The US government is composed of three branches, namely, legislative, executive, and judicial. The legislative branch is responsible for creating laws, while the executive branch enforces them, and the judicial branch interprets them. Moreover, the government is divided into national and subnational levels, where the national level takes care of issues that affect the whole country, and the subnational level handles matters specific to individual states. 

3. The federal government has an important role to play in shaping the actions of state and local governments. They fund affordable health insurance and influence laws. During the ongoing pandemic, the federal government has provided funds for research, testing, treatment, vaccines, and stimulus checks to stimulate the economy. They also offer financial and military assistance when necessary, such as distributing the vaccine and employing military services during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

1. The Constitution was primarily written by the wealthy and influential white upper class. They presented arguments for the creation of a new government that would make decisions in their self-interest, revise articles, and strengthen laws that would benefit them. The wealthy were strategically represented, while the lower class, including poor artisans, farmers, indentured servants, women, and slaves, had no representation. 

2. The wealthy capitalists are still exploiting their laborers and accumulating wealth, thereby holding a disproportionate amount of riches. Merchants are increasingly participating in political campaigns and voting. Social classes have evolved over time, and despite societal progress, the capitalist agenda has intensified, and the social class disparities that existed in the past are still present today. The wealthy elite still wield significant political influence, and politicians are usually wealthy themselves. 

3. The Constitution’s authors were aware of the dangers of a strong democratic government that could limit the power of the elite class they represented. They were also concerned about the potential impact of granting too much freedom to the common people. The writers of the Constitution feared the consequences that elections could have against their specific interest in the vote exercises. 

The statistic that gave me the greatest impression was the abysmal difference given by the percentage of the 1% of the population in the US that owns 40 to 50 of the total wealth of the nation, in contrast to the 90% of the population that, even adding up their wealth, totally fails to reach the wealth of that 1% of the population. On the other hand, I also find the average investment of $2000 per family alarming. Both cases of wealth are far from the image that the US and its population have in the rest of the world, there are secondary effects on the population that fuel violence, low self-esteem and so many important aspects of society in general, and I am understanding more and more the roots of the problems that is seen in the streets and that as an inhabitant of this country, I am also struggling. 

The reading is very interesting, it reveals aspects that I did not know about the management of productivity, sales, investments, the disparity in tax payments, the exploitation of the working class, and racial discrimination. Of all these aspects, the one that bothered me was the percentages of companies’ profits, percentages that are growing while they provide fewer and fewer salary benefits to employees. Something that touches me very closely is seeing the pressure from employers towards employees to workers for do a greater amount of work in less and less time, with less and fewer payment benefits and with 1 week of vacation per year, it is exhausting, we need money for pay bills, but doing heavy works affect the healthy routine in house, affecting our relationship, always we try to be well but it is hard to maintain the balance to work, money, mental health, and personal relations. It’s too much information to process, wealth disparity is seriously affecting American society. 

The M-C-M’ equation is a representation of capitalism. Initially, M refers to the value of a commodity that enters the production system with constant capital (machinery, buildings, materials), and variable capital (wages and salaries for the labor force). This input of capital is used to produce M’ commodities with a resulting value higher than the initial value of the merchandise. 

In this equation, the capitalist introduces capital to create a production system that results in an increasing value of the resulting M’ commodities. The rate of increase in the value of M’ may be growing due to the so-called Productivity by Surplus Value and Surplus Labor. This refers to the application of certain productive techniques on the Labor Power, where the capitalist exerts pressure on workers to use more physical and mental effort to increase the number of units of production in less time. Additionally, a scientific strategy for the use of constant capital is studied to ensure efficiency. These efforts combined translate into a growing amount of capital that produces wealth and can be reinvested in the same productive system for more M’ goods and new investments, which mean more capital. 

1. Production refers to the application of resources, tools, and materials required for the generation of the product under labor with schematic procedures. They include raw materials, machines, tools, money, workshops, factories, and workforces combined. Through labor, individuals create a product with significant value for the consumer system that is greatly used and generates a great amount of money by their selling-buying. 

2. Value is the amount of labor it socially costs to produce a product (use value and exchange value), what determines the magnitude of value of a product is the amount of labor socially necessary for its production, and the use or applicability that that product has. 

3. Labor and Value are related in terms of the time invested and the type of work qualification exerted to achieve a product. Depending on the product’s complexity, the person or entity that produces a product requires greater preparation, a greater investment of time-related to studies, and money that equips them to have the best skills in its production. 

4. Labor is the effort applied in Product Production, and Labor Power is the physical and mental capacity available to perform work with value. 

5. Surplus Value according to Marx is the additional profit that the employer through his workers by carrying out extra production after completing the basic production of products for which they have been hired. A basic example of Surplus Value is the hiring of personnel under an Assignment of Responsibilities in their work position, who in the daily work dynamics end up providing additional results during production, because they make use of their ability to resolve conflicts or tasks, because they have the aptitude and They give their contributions to their productive system out of loyalty and inclusion within the interests of the productive apparatus. 

1. Production refers to the application of resources, tools, and materials required for the generation of the product under labor with schematic procedures. They include raw materials, machines, tools, money, workshops, factories, and workforces combined. Through labor, individuals create a product with significant value for the consumer system that is greatly used and generates a great amount of money by their selling-buying. 

2. Value is the amount of labor it socially costs to produce a product (use value and exchange value), what determines the magnitude of value of a product is the amount of labor socially necessary for its production, and the use or applicability that that product has. 

3. Work and Value are related in terms of the time invested and the type of work qualification exerted to achieve a product. Depending on the product’s complexity, the person or entity that produces a product requires greater preparation, a greater investment of time-related to studies, and money that equips them to have the best skills in its production. 

4. Work is the effort applied in Product Production, and Work Power is the physical and mental capacity available to perform work with value. 

5. Surplus Value according to Marx is the additional profit that the employer through his workers by carrying out extra production after completing the basic production of products for which they have been hired. A basic example of Surplus Value is the hiring of personnel under an Assignment of Responsibilities in their work position, who in the daily work dynamics end up providing additional results during production, because they make use of their ability to resolve conflicts or tasks, because they have the aptitude and They give their contributions to their productive system out of loyalty and inclusion within the interests of the productive apparatus. 

1. The term “ideology” refers to a set of ideas that shape one’s fundamental beliefs and perspectives on politics, society, economics, education, religion, gender, and other relevant subjects.
My chosen example of ideology relates to religious issues, as affirmed in the second video of module 3.: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6w5gPtChhU, “Althusser on Capitalist Ideology and State Apparatuses”, minute 3:32), in which the speaker referred to the basis of ideology according to a false interpretation of words of the Bible exerting indoctrination over peoples, who may accept it as true quickly.
Ideology or point of view spreads a set of beliefs or values to others based on arguments that support their ideas, these ideas will be accepted by others who become part of the same ideology. Some of the motivators/indoctrinators could be parents or professors who hold a level of power over children/students who will accept their ideology naturally. One example of this can be seen in the first video of module 3: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_k_k-bHigM, “Political Ideology: Crash Course Government and Politics #35”, minute 4:50). Indoctrination can be exerted by power figures that use fundamental arguments that are of interest/own benefit of the individuals/groups of the society.

2. After watching the videos and doing the reading, I now have a better understanding of the practical differences between conservatism and liberalism. I have realized that it is crucial to strike a balance between the two ideologies to attain a functional government that benefits the general population. I believe that extreme positions are not helpful and that a middle ground is necessary for major development in society.
The characteristics more important are clear:
Liberalism:

• Focusing on the Equality of the persons in the society (same opportunities to education, jobs, insurance, and health for each Race, Gender, Religion, and Ethnicity).

• Reduce the cost of Military investment (avoid spending more than enough on Military practices, or defenses/wars in countries outside the US)

• Increase investment in social programs (beneficing all levels of society, especially in education is the basis of the prosperity in social issues)

• Implement regulatory policies over the business and increase payment of taxes.

• Create a bigger/stronger government, a union of states to manage in better ways the US (the creation of just laws for tax payment, that allow the controlled economic progress and their correspondent pay to the society)

Conservatism:

• Focusing on the liberty of individuals.

• Maintain the investment in Military issues.

• Reduce/Privatizing the social services.

• Reduce regulatory policies in business investment to expand economic movement and progress.

• Reduce Tax payments.

• Maintain the autonomy of smaller States to manage resources in better ways and reduce hazards of massive damage.

3. After watching the second video, I understood Althusser’s definition of ideology. According to him, ideology is a set of ideas that can influence our lives by entering our minds and becoming deeply embedded in our beliefs. This is reinforced by our behaviors, which are seen as acceptable and encouraged by society, making us conform to the capitalist economy. Althusser also introduced the concepts of Capitalist Ideology and State Apparatuses. The example about school as State Apparatus and the influence exerted over students’ ideology is really interesting and real, the teachers, professors, and even peers that have significant power/value over students exert influence on thinking changing, or aligning these, for example in the topic related to the religion, the belief on God or in counterpart the rejection to the religion practices, and belief in God. Another example can be the influence exerted by ideas supported in college by professors and peers of the “my body-my choice” idea pro-abortion or against it “Human life must be respected and protected absolutely from the moment of conception” according to the Catholic perspective. In both cases, there will exist the influence that will attract one perspective or another to receive it as true and own.

1. After reading the ideas of M. Alexander, we can analyze the importance of the use of language to avoid a law or on the contrary take advantage of the application of the law using determinate language. The language “Law and Order” was created to bring back the initial situation of people of color, where the inequalities, economic injustices, unemployment, and low income, take place again under the substitution to the language “Segregation Forever” of the Civil Rights Laws approved by the Federal Government. Was a new racially neutral language accompanied by the political movement of the affluent Southern.
2. The politics of the southern states are an integral part of American politics, as they also participate in the decision-making process in the US. Despite this, they maintain their autonomy as liberal states in the South. Presently, we are witnessing progressive changes in laws that are improving the social situation of the populations of both the liberal and conservative states. However, there still exists a silent racial war in some states. One example of the influence of Southern politics is the law allowing pro-abortion in some states of the US, which has created a divide between the belief in life and the concept of “women’s rights”.