Jim Stanford: our translator
posted Nov. 21 - 2:36 pm by Keely
I must issue a disclaimer: I don’t understand economics. There are so many convoluted words with meanings that seem to change constantly. When I want to try and figure it all out, I just get confused and go around in circles, thwarted by the big wall of mumbo-jumbo.
Thankfully Jim Stanford is here.
Jim has a knack for explaining the complex in a way that is both comprehensible and highly amusing. I’m happy he was able to start the conference for those of us who are economically challenged.
Stanford truly believes the current system is flawed. If things don’t change, we are guaranteed another crash in the future. But things won’t change if we don’t understand what’s going on, and he’s here to teach us.
As a linguist, I know how important language is to our functioning as a society. And people don’t always use language fairly. The mumbo jumbo of economics is a great example of how language can be used to deny access to certain types of information. For those of us who don’t understand what a derivative is, or who can’t read complicated forecasts, we are left to blindly trust those in charge. This is why we need translators like Jim Stanford. We can’t just be happy with television economists - you know the ones. The hourly updates about how much stocks have risen or fallen. The Jim Cramer type shows. The “consumer confidence is down, consumer confidence is up” speeches which leave us acting out of fear.
I draw the analogy of a dog and his owner. You give a command even though your dog probably doesn’t speak English. But your dog understands what you mean, and will do what you say. Well, let’s face it. We are those dogs who don’t understand the language. But we know it means something and so we do as we’re told. Go buy. Save now. Get a loan. Help the economy. On and on and on.
Jim Stanford says it’s time we rise up against our owners. We need to learn the language to reclaim the system and bite back.
