Andrew Yang is a presidential candidate running for the Democratic Party in the 2020 election. Born in New York in 1975, Yang is a son of Taiwanese immigrants. He studied economics and political science at Brown University before completing law school at Colombia University, where he met his wife, Evelyn. The couple has two sons, ages 6 and 3 years old, whom he doesn’t publicly share the names of. Former President Obama presented Yang with two awards during his presidency: Champion for Change in 2012 and Presidential Ambassador for Global Entrepreneurship in 2015.
Andrew Yang is an entrepreneur and former corporate lawyer. He launched the company, Venture for America, a “two-year fellowship program for recent grads who want to work at a startup and create jobs in American cities.” Located in 14 cities across the country, Venture for America fellows gain experience in many different startups, like BridgeEdu, a company that provides personalized and affordable gap year programs to students transitioning from high school to college. Some fellows even create their own companies. Over 129 fellow-founded companies have created more than 360 jobs. Yang believes his history of creating his own business has given him a solid understanding of the economy and ways to improve it to help the lives of every American.
His three major platforms are the Freedom Dividend, Medicare for All and Human-Centered Capitalism.
Yang’s main platform is the Freedom Dividend, or Universal Basic Income (UBI). UBI is a “type of social security that guarantees a certain amount of money to every citizen within a given governed population without having to pass a test or fulfill a work requirement.” Yang wants to give every American citizen over the age of 18 $1,000 a month, or $12,000 a year. Yang believes this is necessary to support Americans because of the loss of jobs due to automation.
To pay for the Freedom Dividend, Yang plans to execute a Value Added Tax (VAT) and consolidate some welfare programs. A VAT is a “tax on the production of goods or services a business produces.” However, necessities and household staples would be exempted from this tax.
Many believe that this is a form of communism or socialism, but Yang believes that UBI is necessary to continue the system of capitalism in the United States.
He believes that health care is “one of the most important factors in overall well-being,” and that the Affordable Care Act was only the start of what should be offered for every American. By utilizing the method used by Cleveland Clinic of providing a flat salary for doctors instead of paying per service, he believes we would be able to control the costs directly. He also believes that it would improve the economy because employers would not have to offer health insurance, which would allow people to explore more economic opportunities.
Andrew Yang also believes that America’s current insistence on corporate profits does not work for Americans. Instead, he believes we should shift our focus from profits to people. Yang claims there are three central tenets of Human Capitalism: “humans are more important than money,
the unit of a Human Capitalism economy is each person, not each dollar and markets exist to serve our common goals and values.”
Andrew Yang claims the most prominent threat America faces is automation, which leads to job loss. He has concluded that job positions like truck drivers and call centers will soon be taken over completely by automation and that will bring Great Depression-level unemployment.
Yang also hopes to help Americans with student debt, saying that “we need to create a clear path out of this crippling debt.”
He is also a supporter of legalizing marijuana. Because of states like Colorado, which legalized the recreational and medical use of marijuana and states like Florida, which legalized medical marijuana, Yang believes something must be done at the federal level.
Yang has multiple solutions to deal with immigration in America and is a supporter of the DREAM act. He also believes that deportation is too expensive, disruptive and inhumane, so he hopes to create a pathway to citizenship for undocumented immigrants in America.
Andrew Yang has qualified for the October Democratic debate and is currently polling at about 3%.
To find more information about Andrew Yang, visit yang2020.com.
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