So here’s this guy we never heard of until 10 minutes ago, and he qualifies for Democratic debates while people with long political resumes, like Cory Booker, Tulsi Gabbart and Kamala Harris, do not. That’s Andrew Yang.
He’s 44, a businessman who abandoned a law degree and morphed into entrepreneurship and philanthropy. His older brother is a professor of psychology and his parents immigrated to the U.S. from Taiwan. Legally.
I find him to be an attractive candidate because he doesn’t say stupid things and was the only candidate talking about the devastating effect the coming Age of Artificial Intelligence, and robotics, will be having on the American work force.
His are-you-kidding? idea of giving $1,000 a month to every American adult doesn’t seem quite so crazy after he explains it.
He also shows a refreshing willingness to reject political dogma and think for himself, as he did in the debate by analyzing, correctly I think, why Donald Trump was elected president.
“It’s clear why Americans can’t agree on impeachment,” he said. “We’re getting our news from different sources and it’s making it hard for us to agree on basic facts….
“Amercians don’t trust the media networks to tell them the truth. The media networks didn’t do us any favors by missing the reason why Donald Trump became our president in the first place.
“If you turn on cable network news today, you would think he’s our president today because of some combination of Russia, racism, Facebook, Hillary Clinton and emails all mixed together. But Americans around the country know different.
“We blasted away 4 million manufacturing jobs that were primarily based in Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Missouri. I just left Iowa. We blasted 40,000 manufacturing jobs there.
“The more we act like Donald Trump is the cause of all our problems, the more Americans lose trust that we can actually see what’s going on in our communities and solve those problems.”
He is telling Democrats to refocus and return to the party’s working-class, labor and middle-class roots.
I will add it must get off the PC bandwagon and somehow free itself from the grip of identity politics and the belief that every minority is exploited and oppressed and that almost every American is a minority.
As every not-in-power party, the Democrats have to paint a dark picture of life in America that only they can cure. But there are limits.
During the most recent debate the Dems painted a portrait of everything being wrong with America: Criminal justice, race relations, poverty, corporate greed, the economy.
But is the economy bad when most economists say it is good?
Why is it that 76% of Americans think the economy is good? 76% is enormous. Are they all mistaken about their finances, or is it that Americans better understand their status than do politicians?
I’d like to hear Andrew Yang that question.
HAPPY LAST SATURDAY OF THE YEAR !!!
Pallie,
Who is this Yang guy ? A dark horse starting to make his move on the outside ? Definitely a long shot, but so was our President. I see Mr. Yang as a person with enormous intelligence and abilities. I see him shaking up the failed democrat party. Will he continue to make his mark in the debates and slowly win over the silent, very confused minority ? He certainly looks better than the career politicians that are up there on the stage with him. Stay tuned………..
Tony
I don’t think he has a real chance to win, but he is making a contribution with his MATH button and hat.
It stands for Make America Think Harder.
Mr. Yang has made great strides as a genius, but that doesn’t make him Presidential material. VFA, I believe, was his biggest project. Since he specializes in education, put him on the cabinet. Possibly as the Secretary of Education, or Chair of the Council of Economic Advisers.
As for hand outs. Didn’t one of the Bushs give handouts to stimulate the economy ? New Jersey tried it with Governor Whitman as she was leaving office. Vince is right. No hand outs.
The only problem we will have with Artificial Intelligence, is not being prepared to educate our workers. There is much AI right now in many industries. The more we train and educate, the better America will be. Not like the disaster of NAFTA, where we gave away our work without being even a little bit prepared for the future.
I hope Yang winds up in the Cabinet.
AI (artificial intelligence) is just another technological advance the human race will have to come to grips with. Just as the automobile ‘destroyed’ the horse/carriage/buggy whip/blacksmithing/etc. industries, and the light bulb destroyed the candle and gaslight industries, so will AI ‘destroy’ the way we presently create ‘stuff.’ We cannot be Luddites, frightened of technology and concomitant advances.
So far as giving everyone $1000 a month, why not $2000…or $5000…or $100,000? Once you start down that road, you might as well say goodbye to what made the USA great.
The earlier upheavals were balanced by OTHER manufacturing job — car making surpassed buggy making.
Where are the replacement jobs today? There may not be any and if we have 40 million unemployed, who want to work, they must be sustained somehow, although I share your distaste for handouts.
This will be a future column.
He’s probably a Manchurian Candidate planted by the repubs .
That’s a lame conspiracy theory.
Well, you told us to think outside the box!
Touché.
I’m inside the box, looking out.
And of course there’s always the potential votes to be bought by guaranteeing everyone free college…. ::sigh:: What’s that old quote about democracy lasting until people realize they can vote themselves money or somesuch?
– MJM, “I’ll see your vote, and raise you a thousand!”
There are four levels of spending money:
1. You spend your money on yourself
2. You spend your money on others
3. Others spend their money on themselves
4. Others spend others money on whatever they want
It is on Level Four that politicians live, and why we are trillions of dollars in debt.