Economics

Sometimes I really wish I understood the financial world better than I do. Due to an upcoming election, all the Icelandic political parties are constantly going on and on about the economy and taxation and all these words I hardly recognize or understand. And that annoys me no end. I hate not understanding stuff. But I also think that what really gets to me is that I consider myself a fairly intelligent, educated woman. And these politicians are talking about stuff and using language that simply does not compute in my head. This leads me to the conclusion that I'm not the only member of the general public that has no idea what they're talking about. Then if I were to suggest that political discussions about economics should be put in the parlance of the people, I would be accused of advocating the dumbing down of important issues that need rigorous consideration rather than simplification. I don't want to advocate any such thing, so I guess the public, me included, just needs to get their act together and learn to understand economics in order to perform their civic responsibility.
But most of us are pretty busy people, and I can only imagine having time to familarise myself with economics and other issues of import if I give up something else, something that is not vital to democracy, something like, hmmm, knitting. Gasp! As if!
No, but seriously, I think that we all have a civic duty to try and understand what it is that makes our world go round; we all have a duty to understand what it is that those lovable politicians are talking about all the time. If that means that we have to educate ourselves, then so be it. Reading a few books never hurt anyone, and for those of us who like to spend their free time knitting or participating in some other kind of hobby where books aren't really convenient, there are audiobooks. So go out and acquire some knowledge! It makes listening to politicians way more fun.
In other news, I've heard that the cows are out and about in Cambridge. Hooray!