Usually when people say this, they actually mean 'anyone who doesn't agree with me is stupid'.
If understanding how the economy works was seriously a matter of taking a few first-year economics and poli sci courses, then it wouldn't be an issue.
Alternatively, if these people really are as stupid as you think they are, then chances are the politicians they're voting for are going to break their promises anyways-- politicians who destroy the economy tend not to be re-elected and nobody is going to shoot themselves in the foot.
Social issues are a common strategy used by parties who want to get elected... I would agree that if someone only cares about social issues they're probably a little immature, but characterizing them as such simply because you don't agree with their politics is a classic right-wing straw man.
All politicians break their promises, ever since we got a democracy we've had the same two parties rotating in power since there are no better alternatives. The problem this time is that one of these two parties didn't have a lot of votes (because the leader clearly only wants to be prime-minister, regardless of what he has to do to get there, and as such made a fool of himself quite a few times) and it is now going to join forces with the soc
ialist and communist parties.
The reason why I think there should be intro classes to economics and political science is because I had those and I know they significantly changed how I viewed things. It would let people understand basic cause and effect, and if there was time to go deeper we could even teach people public economics (I had this one in college, it explained really well all the schemes politicians do to get votes; I understand that it might be too much to explain in schools though). And basic economics is needed so that people understand stuff like raising the minimum wage means more taxes and that if companies really can't afford higher wages, there'll be more unemployment (which is already pretty high right now).
These classes would make most people realise that communism and soc
ialism don't really work, not in a country with our culture and corruption. Communism doesn't work anywhere and soc
ialism only sort of works in some places with a certain culture and not much corruption.
Political science would be important so people wouldn't be fooled by the media and politicians. Do you know what is the most common insult politicians and commentators use? Liberal. "This government is liberal", "this measure is super-liberal!", "that proposal is ultra-liberal!". Most of the times it is not liberal at all, they simply don't agree with it. Then if the government tries to cut spending, they're labelled as fascists.
Now I call these people stupid because they don't really want to learn. My sister is one of these people. She studied political science, but she knows nothing about economics. That's a dangerous combination because it will often lead a person to defend utopian ideologies, which is the case with my sister. I have tried to explain to her the consequences of certain economic decisions like raising the minimum wage, but she ignores them because they go against her beliefs.
And that's also why I think it is important to teach both subjects at school. If they're not mandatory, most people will just skip them because they're boring. Later in life their knowledge will be based on the crap TV commentators and politicians spew out of their mouths.
I think having those classes could lead to better politicians who actually understand how things work and people would also vote more consciously.
Bear in mind that I don't have anything against people who have different ideologies, as long as they have a good understanding of how that ideology works or might work in practice. I have friends who are very much libertarian, and though I don't agree with them in some points, I respect their opinion and enjoy listening (or reading) their opinions because they are very well founded.
On the other hand, I can't really respect my sister's opinion because she only cares about what sounds good to her.
