Andrew Yang: big thinker, straight talker

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.