By Staff Writer Timothy Howard.
Andrew Yang is a tech entrepreneur with a big goal; he wants to be President of the United States. Yang started out at Brown University where he earned a degree in economics.
He then followed that up with a law degree from Columbia Law School. In keeping with his impressive education, he worked a test-prep company to help students hone their skills before taking the major exams associated with college.
Following this, he began his work in entrepreneurship starting a company that helped young entrepreneurs get off the ground.
“I probably looked pretty conventionally successful as a 24-year-old getting paid $125,000 a year, plus bonus, wearing suits, and living in a Manhattan apartment. But I hated my job, I didn’t admire the people I was working with, and I felt that I was becoming a smaller, less imaginative, less risk-taking, less likable version of myself.”
This startup, Venture for America, is where Yang became grounded in the issues that Americans face today.
He realized that his work, while useful in helping young people start companies, was inconsequential in the grand scheme of things.
The real threat facing our country was automation. Yang recognized that he was setting kids up for failure by helping them start their companies only to have it be ripped away via automation.
This, in Yang’s mind, is the pinnacle threat facing our country and grenade which has caused much of the negative aspects of the 21st century economy to occur.
According to a conversation Yang had with Comedian Joe Rogan, he decided to take action for the sake of his children’s future and run for president.
His goal is simple: get people talking. Yang is running in order to interject the issue of automation into the 2020 presidential race. He does not consider himself a one issue candidate, but he has said (per his podcast with Joe Rogan) that he will be content with the outcome of his campaign if the issue of automation in American society becomes a talking point.
However, Yang is not running to lose. He seems to be aware of his low prospects but is running valiantly with every intention of trying to secure the nomination.
But the establishment isn’t willing to take the necessary bold steps. “A crisis is underway – we have to work together to stop it, or risk losing the heart of our country. The stakes have never been higher.”
Yang’s website, Yang2020.com, is flush with policy positions which he intends to implement as President.
Chief among them is his plan for a universal basic income, which he calls the “Freedom Dividend” in which each and every American above the age of eighteen would receive a thousand dollars a month in order to better assuage their financial burdens.
This, Yang argues, would help lessen a plethora of the issues currently facing our society.
Everything from healthcare, education, transportation, etc. can be tackled if each and every American has a financial launch point in which they can get off the ground.
“As president, my first priority will be to implement Universal Basic Income for every American adult over the age of 18: $1,000 a month, no strings attached, paid for by a new tax on the companies benefiting most from automation. UBI is just the beginning.”
Beyond this, Yang has proposed ending incarceration for low drug offenses and has even proposed waiving the sentences of all those currently incarcerated for crimes such as marijuana possession etc.
He has several more ideas which are laid out in detail on his website. Now that you know who Andrew Yang is. Get used to him. He is currently polling high enough to participate in Presidential Primary debates.