What does it really mean?

I was never taught what the word economy meant. The official definition of economy is the wealth and resources of a country or region, especially in terms of the production and consumption of goods and services. Before Monday’s class and looking up this definition I didn’t realize how much went into what makes the economy. We are taught many irrelevant subjects that I don’t foresee using 5 years from now but I have never once learned about the economy. I was curious if I was the only with a lack of knowledge regarding this term so I went to some friends to see what the word economy meant to them. 

I got the repetitive answer of “money”. Everyone, including myself” correlates the economy with just being another term for money. But in reality the money being made is affected by so many factors. My friend, Danielle, brought up another haunting term all college students are bound to face, debt. As I read the article, “4 Years of College, $0 in Debt”, I was surprised to learn the debt students don’t face outside the US.  We all face debt in our near future but some don’t even have the means to attend college. If we put such a large emphasis on education then why don’t we make it more accessible to those who can’t afford education past high school. We see a high percentage of people living under the poverty line since they can’t give their kids the means to succeed in life. We see a ripple effect of these families financially suffering. 

My friend, Lauren, brought up that she thinks of social class when economy is brought up. We see people struggling to put food on the table while the other 1% of people don’t have a second thought if they’ll eat or not. Now those are just two extremes, we also have families who live stable lives but aren’t basking in the luxuries like the famous and not scared of where their next meal will come from like the homeless. If we are educated on how much the Kardashians make, why aren’t we learning about how to manage money and help create a stable economy.

Everyone deserves a chance to receive higher level education. The ones fortunate enough to attend college to bring an emphasis to the ones who don’t. We should be required to learn how to handle our money because in most cases college kids are notoriously known for being broke. I believe if a class about the economy was taken from a young students, we would see a positive shift in the way our country is run.