It is the cry of frustration of the modern citizen overwhelmed by the huge volume of information in modern society, and the ever increasing volume of serious issues we should be concerned about - "There is no need that every single person understands where they came from, or the details of global warming. Its the same as not everybody needs to know how the stock market works ... For most people it's unnecessary information, which they dont have either the time or mental capacity to understand. The point is that the people who are supposed to be LEADERS should be able to figure out these details, or at least have minds that are open to accepting expert opinion. It is there that the danger lies."
Information overload and compassion fatigue are real things, and I sympathise with my reader. There is just so much you can do, only so many issues that you can be concerned about. But we need to get beyond the fatigue, just as a Lance Armstrong does. I have always thought that the point of education is not to cram every student with every possible fact they will need as an adult. That may have once been possible, but hasn't been for at least a century. Rather the aim of a good teacher is to equip students with a framework for understanding the world, and then, most importantly, teach them how to find out information and analyse it. I don't know the answer to every question, but I have a pretty good idea how to find out the answers when the questions arise, and I know just enough about many things to be able to understand those answers.
And no, we don't want leaders who think they know all the answers, that's what we have now, instead we want leaders who will happily confess ignorance but also happily go away and read and read and discuss until they have the information to make an informed answer. And we don't want fundamentalists, or stock market investors, or climate change deniers, telling us it is all too hard for the public to understand - but trust us, we are the experts. We need to know enough to see through the self-serving misinformation.
So yes, it is important that every single person knows something of every important subject, and knows sources of further information that don't involve Fox News or the local church, or Enron. Otherwise you are opting out of your duty and responsibility as a citizen. And if you do, the great leaders are waiting to show you the way the truth and the light, just as they have throughout history.