As a conservative, it is great to hear any candidate more interested in solving problems than stoking grievances.
30
I just watched the YouTube video of Joe Rogan interviewing Andrew Yang and he is no joke. I am so excited for his candidacy and I really hope he’s able to get great exposure because everyone should hear what he has to say! Talk about backing up what you say with facts and figures!
35
You don't need to endorse Yang to endorse some of his ideas. His position, with concrete examples, of Medicare or better for all is spot on. His proposal for a new, federal tax on economic activity so everyone pays a fair share (noting Amazon paid zero taxes the past 2 years) is a terrific idea. More practical than 70% rate on income over $10 million. Yang would use those new taxes to fund his Freedom Dividend, which would be simpler and less costly to administer than the various welfare programs. Taxes could be used to fund universal health care or other worthwhile goal. His "core" ideas are solid and should not be dismissed.
17
The Democratic party is getting trolled and the media complex is helping. Seriously look at the memes, the videos and the YangGang2020 twitter. It should creep you out unless you are alt-right.
He has my vote.
17
That's my volleyball captain in the Times.
What a small world.
5
His ideas are disfunctional.
It is utterly flabbergasting that mainstream news media continues to be so dismissive of automation. "Quirky"? Really?
Listen to any of Yang's interviews on YouTube and you'll see that this guy knows what he's talking about.
37
I had never heard of Andrew Yang before reading this article, but after having now read through his policy proposals and other statements on his website, I wish this article was actually about Yang's ideas and positions, rather than about media coverage of him. Every day I find myself increasingly disappointed with the shallowness of articles in the NYT.
77
Probably the most pragmatic candidate out there right now. Everyone else has turned into a clown following marching orders given by corporations.
21
It’s amazing that the US prints up money and gives it away. They give hundreds of billions to “allies” for bombs and nobody says a word. They give billions to corporations in incentives, and not a question asked. They give endless amounts of money to contractors for questionable weapons and devices for the military and everyone shrugs their shoulders and assumes that the “experts” know what’s good for us. Yet Bernie talks about free college or Yang talks about not starting at zero, and people lose their collective minds. If it helps ordinary people then their must be something wrong.
40
Andrew Yang needs to be much more forthcoming about his UBI proposal, including some minor detail like the funding mechanism. Andrew proposes to impose some kind of a tax on the high tech companies to fund the UBI. He is also known to like math. Well, let's do some math, shall we? If all Americans received $12,000, that amounts to about $3 trillion (250 million adults × $12,000). That is $3 trillion per year, every year. Total revenues for all Fortune 500 companies (including the high tech ones) were about $13 billion for 2018. Total profits were $1 trillion. You cannot tax companies 23% of revenues every year without them going out of business. Tbe math does not work. He will have to cut back on existing benefit programs or do something else to make the math work for his UBI proposal. Hey, I like the sound of UBI, who wouldn't? But I don't want to get taken in by some vapor deal.
@Chat Cannelle lol check your numbers, this isn't even remotely accurate. Wallmart alone sold $495 billion in 2018.
13
@Chat Cannelle At every appearance he has done, he has gone into detail about his funding mechanism and it is nothing like what you described. I recommend doing a cursory google search.
16
@Chat Cannelle
Your math may not work, but Mr. Yang addresses the specifics you take issue with here: https://www.yang2020.com/what-is-ubi/
10
A social media candidate sounds like bad news. Social media is the realm of superficiality and emotionalism. Voters should beware of any such candidate. Tromp is exhibit A. The Democrats have a number of candidate who are known for more than memes, songs, and music videos. Voters need to get down to basics, complex views that are well thought out and presented in-depth.
2
I'm sold. Never heard of him before today, but a new face with interesting ideas is preferred to any of the boring and flawed candidates we have been seeing to date.
He unites the far left AND the far right? Let's go for it!
30
I listened to an interview with Mr. Yang on NPR and I found him very interesting. He has thought out his positions well. Yes, he is an extreme long shot and I believe he knows this and perhaps this is why he will kid and tease a little. But he has interesting ideas and the research to back them up.
In this interview at least, he said he would be happy to be part of the solution however close he gets to a nomination. Good ideas are always welcome.
41
@zoe If experience has taught me anything, it's that "extreme long shot" in 2019 means "probably going to win."
14
"...out of his signature campaign proposal to give $12,000 a year in no-strings-attached cash to every American adult."
Google: "The U.S. Census Bureau estimates that there are 247,813,910 adults living in the United States."
Do the math: 248 million adults x $12,000 per adult per year = $2,976,000,000,000. Unless I'm mistaken, that amounts to $2 quadrillion, 976 trillion, per year.
Either I'm wrong or Andrew Yang is stark staring mad.
@SMS
It's $2.976 trillion per year. Still high, but you can conceive of the math, especially if existing programs are consolidated at the same time. New revenue would definitely still be needed.
7
@SMS Your math is right, but $2,976,000,000,000 is equal to $2.976 trillion dollars. This is around %13.8 of the national GDP in 2018.
3
@SMS https://www.yang2020.com/what-is-ubi/
I don't mean this as a callout or attack, but the brief response to how UBI would be paid for is on Mr. Yang's website (linked above) under the point "How would we pay for Universal Basic Income?"
As mentioned in the other comments, the distributed UBI would also account for individuals with welfare. If welfare received exceeds $1000, then the individual can opt to keep the welfare benefits instead of the $1000 from UBI.
17
Yang Gang 2020! Honestly, I just enjoy a genuine candidate who talks about the problems we face and introduces a solution with facts to back it up. What other candidate can do that? Besides Bernie.
27
@Mike "talks about the problems we face and introduces a solution with facts to back it up. What other candidate can do that?"
Elizabeth Warren
13
Shows you how out of touch the "establishment" and the "decision makers" are.
The cannot even fathom voters like me, who will probably vote for Trump, but would consider Yang, Bernie, or Bloomberb (not running) if the got nominated.
The 'establishment' should also wonder why it is the democratic candidates from the cultures that value logic and reason that I would support.....
5
@Emily
So, you would value a candidate from a "culture that values logic and reason" but will probably vote for Trump? I find that to be most illogical.
9
Thanks for this profile. I had heard of Mr. Yang, but not any specifics about what he was proposing.
A basic universal income, not means tested, is an idea that should be pursued. This idea (and his others) will be a great addition to the national debates.
Such an exciting primary for a change.
27
I thought Yang as a "fringe" candidate too when I heard only two words associated with him: "robot apocalypse" and "universal basic income". But the more I dive into his platform, the more I'm convinced he's the real deal. His vision is foundational for American society, making even Warren sound like a tinkerer around the edge.
Yang also seems the only candidate on the left that comes out and addresses the pains of blue collar Americans straight on. His solution could work immediately, while Trump is all empty promises. He could be the spokesperson for working class voters who abandoned the Democrats in 2016. That's why his momentum may not be confined to the internet alone.
38
@kirk
I've heard things from Mayor Pete along these lines, that change from AI and automation is probably coming faster than we think.
6
The real question is: do you want to wait for the invisible hand of market to sort itself out and for the government’ to come up with a comprehensive retraining program that at best takes decades with minimal results. Or get ahead of the game and be the country that address mass automation head on and in the process give other countries that face similar problems a reason to look to us for solution?
19
So why does this guy want to be president? It seems even he isn’t taking it seriously.
@RiversideHe is taking it very seriously. It's the NYT article that makes him seem like a joke. He is a solid candidate with actual numbers, data, and facts to back up all of his claims. For whatever reason, big media like CNN and NYT are dismissive of him, but if you watch some of the interviews on YouTube you will see (Just as millions of others have) that he is a refreshing candidate with realistic and solid ideas.
70
@Manny I can't agree with this response more. This article focuses on all the unimportant things, and none of the important ones.
I think there was recently some piece on how there are 999 articles about how Dems/Repubs feel about that New Green Deal and 0 articles on what it actually is and how practicable it would be. This is exactly the same disease here.
39
Well, I guess that I am the first to comment proves the point of the article. Yang has barely registered among Democratic voters yet.
Though his odds for 2020 may be next to nil, a fact of which Yang no doubt is acutely aware, the political landscape could, and probably will be, very different fours years, certainly eight years, down the line. At that point, chances are that AI will have made further inroads into the workplace. People who are not worried about losing their jobs to a robot today may well be terrified in four or eight years. Remember that climate change was basically a non-issue in the 2016 elections. Now, four years later, it has taken center stage.
In other words, in coming election cycles Yang's platform will hardly look arcane anymore and automation of the workplace may well rival climate change as a topic of political debate. While climate change may be unstoppable at that point, AI is at least in principle fully within human control and thus amenable to a political solution.
An excellent resource on automation and its effects on employment is the book "Rise of the Robots" by Martin Ford, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and authority on AI in the workplace. Ford's book is not visionary in nature predicting impending doom, but rather relies on the best data available to support his argument. I highly recommend it.
26
Spend a few moments listening to Andrew Yang. I think you'll be glad you did. I'm not a supporter (yet), but the man is highly intelligent, has American interests at heart, and has important thoughts and ideas about the future that should become a part of political platforms. He has ideas that should be heard and that can truly help America.
55
He seems to have large vision for the country, but I and I assume many of my fellow citizens also, question the nascence of political experience, and the likelihood of him being able to get things done. Yes, he might appeal to the meme generation, but it is easy to campaign on sound bites and veritable junk food.
Additionally, one should question his involvement with Kaplan University, a for profit college that at best was nothing more than a diploma mill that made a marked contribution to a failing system that did nothing but bilk students and the government out of millions of dollars. Is that part of his vision for America?
@M.F. He has 75+ policy stances on his website https://www.yang2020.com/ outlined quite neatly and informatively if you want to give him a look. I think Trump, if anything, shows that political experience isn't necessary to get elected, at the very least. And Yang's been through law school and is experienced in business and entrepreneurship. He sounds like he's seriously done his research on all the subjects he addresses with his policy stances as well, so I'm pretty sure about him, personally.
2
While I'm fully in support of lifting people out of poverty through social generosity, I believe it would be a mistake to do so by pumping MORE money into the economy through a basic income. The result, simply put, would be inflation, making that basic income worth less and the price of desired goods higher, and thus more money would be needed and thus more inflation, etc, etc, etc. We would do better by taking money OUT of the system, through well-placed taxation. Maybe a careful argument could be made for some form of both, a basic income combined with taxation, as a form of redistribution, but for advocates of a basic income...beware inflation.
5
@Scribbles his basic income proposal is actually paid for by a VAT tax and by replacing some other social programs like disability, so it seems like it would be neutral in terms of the money supply.
10
@Scribbles Anyone with any economic sense can see that for the last 40 or so years, all of the developed world's major economies (USA, Europe, Japan) have been in a massive deflationary spiral in most facets of the economy except for speculative investments (i.e. real estate, stock market, art, classic cars). Even China at 6% GDP growth has very tame inflation numbers.
8
@Scribbles
He's not proposing pumping more money in. Just a better way to circulate it. I highly recommend watching his appearance on Joe Rogan's show (On Youtube). It is what got many to support him. He is solid.
14
Problems and solutions. I'm with Yang.
20
A fascinating article. I knew nothing about him. Thanks to you I will learn more.
There are good and bad points to internet campaigning, but as long as one is aware of them, one is fore-armed.
8
Having heard him speak, I think Yang’s greatest strengths are his ability to concisely lay out the specifics of his policy proposals (the “how” of how he’ll give everyone $1000 a month, not just the “what” or the “why”), and his willingness to, as this article says, take full advantage of online platforms. He’s the only candidate running who I’ve listened to for several hours, not only because he has enough going on to take up so much time, but mostly because he actually will sit down with someone like Joe Rogan for 2 hours and hold a casual yet informative conversation.
It makes him feel like not a politician but an actual human being who’s just trying to solve a problem he sees. More candidates should be doing this. I want to know how they act outside of their hype-building rally speeches, how their solutions are communicated in less structured and scripted environments.
The job for NYT and other media platforms isn’t so much to cover the strange internet meme that Yang has become (though that certainly plays a part in it), but to research his claims. His UBI proposal, specifically where the money will come from, sounds reasonable to the average viewer. I myself don’t really know enough to question it’s particulars, and I’m assuming most people don’t either.
84
Universal basic income! Medicare for all! Free college! Abolish the electoral college! Expand the Supreme Court! When are Democrats going to realize their favorite piece of legislation is not going to be enacted?
@Jake - I see your point. Does a politician make promises he knows he can't keep? Probably.
Thing I recently saw on MSNBC reported that we don't need a constitutional amendment to abolish the electoral college. Each state can determine for itself how its electors act. Neat, huh?
9
@Jake Bit irrelevant, isn't this? Andrew Yang isn't Left or Right, he's Forward. And UBI especially is something that everyone likes. Alaska, a red state, has had an implementation of UBI since 1978 and enacted by a Republican, iirc. Capitalism doesn't work if no one's buying anything. Everyone can serve to benefit from UBI.
6
@Jake, Make America Great Again! Build the Wall! Mexico will pay for it! Ban Muslims from entering the US! Medical coverage for all! Bring coal back! When are Trump supporters going to realize their favorite piece of legislation is not going to be enacted?
Seems to me that the Democrats proposals are more practical and meaningful for Americans than anything that Trump proposed and got elected on (through treasonous chicanery, but that's another matter).
6
So great. This is really really TRUE liberal and FOR THE PEOPLE. We will vote for him for sure.
16