1. According to MLK, how can we tell the difference between just and unjust laws? Understanding this questions is the most important part of this module, and I will ask it again during our second exam.

According to MLK he uses St. Augustine’s definition of law to determine what an unjust and just law is. An unjust law is a law that is out of harmony with the moral law and the law of God. An example of this in this time period is segregation. It was an unjust law because there was no real reason to segregate white and black people. There was no medical or ethical excuse as to why it wasn’t allowed. A just law on the other hand is defined as a law that serves to protect everybody equally. This just law also helps promote the happiness of citizens. 

2. In your view, is this an important distinction (between just and unjust laws), do you think it makes a difference in the way someone (as an individual, or our society as a whole) lives their lives? Can it affect our politics?

I do think this is an important distinction between just and unjust laws. If we are unable to tell if a law is just or unjust then the government will be free to pass any law they want. Furthermore, this makes a difference in how we live our lives because as opinionated human beings we use the right to vote to at least try to make a decision on who represents us. Which in some way affects what laws are passed. 

3. Based on our discussion of Question 1, give an example of an unjust and just law, in the US today. Explain what makes it unjust or just (using MLK’s definition of those two types of laws).

I think an unjust law today in the US is the right for states to ban abortions. Abortion should be a human right to women whether the government agrees with it or not. Sometimes women aren’t ready to have a family, may have difficulty raising a child or may have been assaulted. The way I see it is the government is forcing women to have children and this will have horrible repercussions in a couple of years. This law is unjust because the right to abortions does not affect any specific population. A just law I can think of that applies to today’s society is getting the COVID-19 vaccine, first and second dose. Getting the first and second dose was required but also necessary to protect people in public settings. 

1. Two key concepts in this video are the means of production and labor. In your comment, explain how you understand the means of production and labor. Give an example of each.

        The way I understand the means of production and labor is that means of production equal labor. Means of production is how much work you put into an organization that is privately owned. Labor connects to this because labor is what you sell to the owner of a privately owned organization. An example of labor can be the time you put in working as a cashier. While you are cashiering you make the money you take home but you still have to keep working until the end of your shift for the money the company keeps. In a successful business you will make 3 times what you are getting paid for that day, but only take home ⅓ of that part. The means of production would be who you are working for and how you sell your labor to them. 

2. Another important concept in understanding social class is value. Based on the ideas presented in Video 5.1, what is value?  What give “value” to value, what makes something valuable? 

      According to the video, value is measured by how much labor it takes to produce something under normal circumstances. What makes something valuable is the amount of time and dedication you spend making such things. “Pre-training” or education can give more value to something because it is also the labor you have put in to get something out of it. 

3. How are labor and value related? What’s the relationship/connection between the two?

        Labor and value are related because you have to put labor into something to make it valuable. Labor and time itself can also be valuable depending on your expertise. An example I can think of is school or experience. The longer you spend in school or in the company the more value your work will have. 

4. How do you understand the difference between labor and labor power? Hint:this is a key difference, give it your best shot based on what the video says about it, and your own ideas. We’ll clarify and develop it in our discussions, and in my video comments.

       The difference to me between labor and labor power is that labor can to me is any work you put in whether personal or for others. Labor can also mean schooling. Labor power has a more in-depth definition. For firsts it can only be found in people and it is renting out your time to labor for someone else. For labor power you need things like clothing, food and shelter which are the reasons you work but the rest of your work goes to who you’re working for. 

5. Surplus Value: what is it? Why is it important to know about, in our study of social classes? Think about an example of surplus value?

       Surplus value is the labor you put in that only benefits your boss. This means that you make the products and only your boss receives the profit. Of course you get paid, but your work is way more valuable than what you are getting paid. Surplus value is important to know in our study of social classes because there is a trend within classes where some benefit from surplus value and others don’t. An example of surplus value can be the scenario I gave in my answer for question 1 about the cashier. She can bring home ⅓ or less if the money she receives in the cash register while

1. As we learned thus far, the capitalist class consists of people who own wealth, as well as the means of production in American society. An important question in understanding how this class works is to ask: how does a capitalist remain wealthy? The answer to this question depends largely on understanding the diagram M-C-M’. So, let’s practice by explaining what happens in this diagram in our own words (but basing our ideas on Reading 5.1). Respond to the following question:  Explain M-C-M’ to show how capitalists maintain and increase their wealth. (hint: your answer should weave a summary that includes what you reviewed in the self-assessment exercise question 1-7)

Capitalists maintain and increase their wealth because they start the equation M-C-M off with money. This means that they don’t even sell a commodity in order to receive money to buy another commodity. It is harder when somebody has to sell a commodity to gain money because now, they have to buy something more valuable than the commodity they have sold for the same price they were given for said commodity. When M-C-M ends with money or capital, more money than the initial amount, the capitalists can invest and keep the trend going.

1. Two key concepts in this video are the means of production and labor. In your comment, explain how you understand the means of production and labor. Give an example of each.

        The way I understand the means of production and labor is that means of production equal labor. Means of production is how much work you put into an organization that is privately owned. Labor connects to this because labor is what you sell to the owner of a privately owned organization. An example of labor can be the time you put in working as a cashier. While you are cashiering you make the money you take home but you still have to keep working until the end of your shift for the money the company keeps. In a successful business you will make 3 times what you are getting paid for that day, but only take home ⅓ of that part. The means of production would be who you are working for and how you sell your labor to them. 

2. Another important concept in understanding social class is value. Based on the ideas presented in Video 5.1, what is value?  What give “value” to value, what makes something valuable? 

      According to the video, value is measured by how much labor it takes to produce something under normal circumstances. What makes something valuable is the amount of time and dedication you spend making such things. “Pre-training” or education can give more value to something because it is also the labor you have put in to get something out of it. 

3. How are labor and value related? What’s the relationship/connection between the two?

        Labor and value are related because you have to put labor into something to make it valuable. Labor and time itself can also be valuable depending on your expertise. An example I can think of is school or experience. The longer you spend in school or in the company the more value your work will have. 

4. How do you understand the difference between labor and labor power? Hint:this is a key difference, give it your best shot based on what the video says about it, and your own ideas. We’ll clarify and develop it in our discussions, and in my video comments.

       The difference to me between labor and labor power is that labor can to me is any work you put in whether personal or for others. Labor can also mean schooling. Labor power has a more in-depth definition. For firsts it can only be found in people and it is renting out your time to labor for someone else. For labor power you need things like clothing, food and shelter which are the reasons you work but the rest of your work goes to who you’re working for. 

5. Surplus Value: what is it? Why is it important to know about, in our study of social classes? Think about an example of surplus value?

       Surplus value is the labor you put in that only benefits your boss. This means that you make the products and only your boss receives the profit. Of course you get paid, but your work is way more valuable than what you are getting paid. Surplus value is important to know in our study of social classes because there is a trend within classes where some benefit from surplus value and others don’t. An example of surplus value can be the scenario I gave in my answer for question 1 about the cashier. She can bring home ⅓ or less if the money she receives in the cash register while 

1. What did the Supreme Court decide in the Wal-Mart case? And more importantly, how did it justify its decision? (HINT: the key word here is “commonality” (and how it related to “class-action lawsuit”). Try to understand what this legal terms means, as it is key to the court’s decision).

      The Supreme Court didn’t make a decision in the Wal-Mart case because they dismissed it due to the fact that all the women suing weren’t making the same complaint against the same person. According to them the case didn’t fit the description of a class-action lawsuit despite the fact that only women were suing. Only one gender suing showed that discrimination within the company was only towards women and not men. No commonality, as the Supreme Court stated, didn’t let women sue as a whole. This meant that an individual would need their own lawyer, 1.5 million women were suing. 

1. The war on terror is a new kind of war because it is war supposed to be a war against terrorism but instead it ended up violating the privacy and right of citizens and non citizens alike. The government was at a heightened state of surveillance and people started being spied on and searched without their permission. 
2. The Roving Wiretaps violates the Bill of Rights because suspects were spied on without their permission. One court order callowed the surveillance o various devices not just one. A person could also become a suspect if they have contact wit the inital suspect. The Amendment that the Roving Wiretaps violates is the fourth amendment because the fourth amendment protects citizens against unreasonable searches without a warrant. 
3. Sneak and peak warrants also violate the fourth amendment because an individual’s home is searched without their consent while they aren’t there and the receive notice after the search. This violates the fourth amendment in all its ways. 

1. The primary difference in the roles of citizens in government, among the federal, the confederation, and unitary systems is that all have different ways of letting citizens participate in the government. The Confederation and federal systems let citizens directly participate with the government, that is more than the unitary system. Federal systems let citizens vote for representatives while confederation systems let citizens be more involved with state governments. Last but not least, unitary systems do not let citizens participate, leaving everything up to the government itself.
2. I understand the system of division of power as a system that checks each other out. To me these systems work together and against each other to maintain the balance of the government. 
   3. The federal government shapes the actions of state and local governments because the local and state governments can only do as much as they are permitted. State and local governments always end up getting affected by the laws passed by the government because it is all up to what is agreed by the three branches. The federal government influenced the action of state and local governments during the COVID-19 pandemic because when stimulus checks were sent out to citizens it came from the federal government. It was used to stimulate the economy around the country.

1.     The concept that we have already discussed that faction reminds me of is ideology and ideological state apparatuses. This concept reminds me of faction because while reading “The Federalist Paper (excerpts)” the beginning states that the causes of faction could be dealt with by “destroying the liberty which is essential to its existence; the other, by giving to every citizen the same opinions, the same passions, and the same interests” (Madison, 2013). This sounds like ideological state apparatuses have to be set in place so the majority is distracted while the minority acts on their beliefs. 
2.    The source of wealth (private property) pertains to where a person’s overall wealth comes from. The factor that explains why some people get to possess wealth by owning private property and others don’t is that some people are part of that faction that the government benefits. This being said their financial wellbeing is maintained by the laws already established. Some even inherit this wealth. Faculties has to mean privileged people, a specific group of people with knowledge and importance. It reminds me of how the word faculty is used in schools, faculty in school stands for the staff which are less than the student but still have more say than the students. 
3. I do not agree with this explanation of wealth and poverty because I don’t think it is fair to the working class that they have such a hard time being able to acquire wealth. The constitution in a way fights against the working class to keep them where they are at. This keeps social mobility within social classes at a minimum. 
4.       I think the core mission of the US government is to maintain those in power, in power. This explains why even in modern America we see the same faces circling around in positions of power. It doesn’t surprise me when I hear that a person in a position of power had a direct family member in that position because that is generally how it works. Even in higher education institutions like Harvard Universities it is very common to see families who have attended those schools for decades while it’s harder for new students to get in. 
5.       The author of the Federalist #10 may not be in favor of democracy for the same reasons everybody else is. It can throw the government out of balance in terms of who it works for/with and who it benefits. Furthermore, everything always ends up being controlled by a faction.