Blog 7--Callista Osley

My family does not pay much attention to the economy or politics. I know, we're 'bad Americans' for not doing so and we probably should pay more attention to these things, but we just really weren't ever interested. So, because of how I was raised not really paying attention to the government, economy, or politics, I never liked learning about those things in school and took as little social studies classes as possible. Now, after reading Economix, I feel like I have at least a little better understanding of the economy. One chapter in particular that stuck out to me was Chapter 8: The World Today (2001 Onward). Maybe I liked this chapter because it was all things I have actually been alive for, even if I don't remember all of them. When he talked about American intervention in Iraq, I was really surprised to learn about how much we tried to change about their country, and that we made such a show of it. I had no idea that we meddled so much in their economy and government. I connected to the part about Iraq because my uncle is in the Army and served there in the late 2000s-early 2010s, so learning more about the places he has visited has always been an interest of mine. It was also interesting how the military forces were kind of demonized (for protecting capitalists), when to me they are angels, but I may be a little biased. I found the tone of the narrator to be kind of funny, he's very sarcastic and ironic but still gets the point across. As a visual learner, the pictures help me understand the concept they are talking about. The pictures are so impressive with how much thought and irony are put into them. Like the Iraqi man that Uncle Sam is bossing around with new ideas on how to run Iraq is drawn to be really small and look like a stereotypical Middle-Eastern man. Uncle Sam is drawn to be much larger than whoever he is talking to because, like the country that he represents, he is large and in charge. George W. Bush is also drawn with a large head and sometimes a muscly body because he is in power and making big decisions. The transition from 9/11 to American policies in Iraq was new to me, as I mentioned before. I had no idea they were connected like that, I always just thought we went to Iraq to find the people who did 9/11, not to change their entire country. I think Goodwin taking an explicit stance on the topic does help him find answers and leads him toward finding reality. He is able to clearly state evidence that supports his side and evidence that doesn't. He doesn't need to act like he is impartial when he's not, and therefore can present all ideas and evidence. This leads him to some new answers/'facts', but also new questions. I wish all textbooks were like Economix because they would definitely be a lot more fun and easier to read.