Anyone following Andrew Yang's campaign for the American presidency in 2020?

[Moon Shadow Rayne]

If you haven't heard of him, he's a businessman who wants to run for president in 2020 on a unique and very progressive platform: universal basic income for all Americans - $1000 a month paid for by a tax on big corporations engaging in automation to replace human jobs. He's gaining a lot of steam already and apparently he's going to be on Joe Rogan's show in February which will definitely get him noticed. His platform is amazing and I am really hoping he succeeds. Look at his various policies and tell me what you think of them.

https://www.yang2020.com/policies/

 

[Muffin]

I have not taken a chance to look at who is running but I am liking his answers to topics which are current issues. I also really like how on the site it mentions an issue then explain why it is one, goals and what will be done about it. Some of the topics covered by Yang that really interest me and why are:

Equal pay (no one likes to be paid less than a fellow colleague)

Mass incarceration (topic that always came up in my criminal justice classes) this issue can easily be divided into different sections such as overcrowding, not being able to support medical needs of inmates, not enough programs to help inmates and much more.

Climate change (we cant turn back the damage done but hopefully we can extend this planet's life)

Every cop gets a camera (this can help reduce certain officers act out/make them think about what they plan to do more or could help out an innocent cop who got caught up in a bad circumstance)

Net neutrality (help make education more accessible, get in touch with communities, not have unnecessary fees, advertise small businesses and much more)

Many others but those are a few.

 

[Naia]

I like his vision, but I have some serious concerns with how he'll be able to implement his platform. The Freedom Dividend is a great idea, but he states that it will require a constitutional amendment to alter. This means that the Freedom Dividend itself would need to be worked into the constitution. These are issues the democratic party can't even agree on for itself, does he even understand how difficult it is to pass an amendment to the constitution? There's no way it would be done for an issue that is still considered extremely controversial.

The policies that I feel, he could likely implement and that I support, are:

• Funding Autism Intervention
  
• Invest in America’s Mental Health
  
• Equal Pay
  
• Every cop gets a camera
  
• Net neutrality
  
• Legalize Marijuana
  
• Right to Privacy/Abortion and Contraception
  
• LGBTQ Rights
  
• Nuclear Launch Decisions
  
• ... and more
  

The policies that I feel he could likely implement and I oppose, are:

• Gun Control and the Second Amendment (discriminatory measures against people with disabilities who are not dangerous are too likely)
  
• Value-Added Tax (nobody I know in Europe is particularly fond of VAT)
  
• Reduce Harm to Children Caused by Smartphones (... we don't need more regulation in this area)
  
• Prevent Airlines from Removing Customers (a private business should have the right to remove an unruly customer)
  
• Robo-Calling text line (not sure he knows how call spoofing works)
  

 

[Fractal]

One of my friends won't shut up about him. I don't like single issue politicians, especially since he's basically like Hillary on everything other than UBI. He ain't going nowhere. Either they're going to rig it in favor of Biden like they did with Hillary, or Bernie is actually going to win. 

 

[NoPetalsLeft]

slowly takes off my MATH hat to not appear like a shill for Yang, while wondering how I didn't see this thread sooner

All jokes aside, I really like Yang. I'm not ashamed to say that he is my first choice for president in 2020. That being said, as much as I've been rooting for him and trying to help his campaign in every way I can... he's still a very long shot. Which is a slight improvement over "longer than long shot" (as he's had some large rallies, and raised over $10mil in Quarter 3, but is still polling at around 2-4% on average) but it doesn't change the fact that his chances of getting the nomination are very low unless he does absolutely amazing in the next few debates. And even then, I'm definitely concerned about what the DNC might do to get Warren or Biden into the nomination instead. I'm not idealistic enough to think they'd see the reasons behind Yang's campaign and be willing to work with him, even if Yang would absolutely be willing to listen to them and compromise with them.

But at the same time, I frequent many discord channels that are working to progress his campaign, as well as his official subreddit. And it always amazes me how many people I see helping his campaign and donating who are more conservative/lean towards the right. I've always leaned pretty far to the left, and a year ago, if you had asked me if it was possible for someone like me to find common ground with people on the right, I would have responded with an emphatic and slightly offended "NO, never". Yet that's exactly what I've done since starting to fully support Yang; I've found common ground with people who I never would have imagined doing so with, and I see the same sentiment from other people who are more conservative. (Though there are bad apples, of course; I've seen some conservatives and liberals in his campaign making blanket statements about other groups, but other people have usually been able to point out the flaws in doing so, so that those comments don't gain as much traction.)

I genuinely think that even if he doesn't win the nomination, his campaign is going to make a mark on politics, or at the very least on everyone who is supporting him. I for one know that it's changed me for the better already, and I'm excited to keep following it even if he doesn't get the nomination.