Entrepreneur Andrew Yang, a Big Supporter Of Universal Basic Income, is Running For President (techcrunch.com)

In a recently published podcast, Andrew Yang, tech entrepreneur and founder of Venture for America, said he is vying for the Democratic party nomination to run for President of the United States. From a report: Yang outlines his radical policy agenda, which focuses on Universal Basic Income and includes a "freedom dividend." He talks about the very real and immediate threat of artificial intelligence, how new technologies are erasing millions of jobs before our eyes, and why we need to put humanity first. He also addresses "the big four" and what he plans to do about Amazon.

During the interview, Yang called out governments inability to address large scale problems and the challenges that technology is creating in modern American society. "I believe that we need to start owning these realities [of automation and artificial intelligence taking away jobs] and these challenges as a people, as a country, and as a society, and start being honest. I'm running for president to solve the big problems and to show that these things are not beyond us," Yang says. Yang's own plan to address the increasing power tech companies are wielding in the world involves something called a "freedom dividend", which would paid for by a value-added tax. The revenue from that tax (levied on "gains from the big four") would be redistributed via the "freedom dividend" to citizens, Yang says.

Comments

Re: Oh boy

[Anonymous Coward]

If America wanted an establishment whore, it would have elected Clinton. Instead it elected Trump and got one anyway.

Re:UBI, it's about time

[losfromla]

oooohhh. All caps and bolded. You must be right! That is how I always recognize the best arguments, bolded and all caps, with exclamation marks (/sarcasm)

When 95% of the jobs are gone, either we all starve, yes even you Ayn Randians, or we yank back wealth from rent-seeking leeches. Violence will be the preferred method of the masses so the wealthy should start planning on UBI if they don't want themselves and their progeny oiling our guillotines.

Re:UBI, it's about time

[rickb928]

Huh. I was taught it was the instigators of the revolution, themselves, the most violent and cruel, and most motivated, that formed the 'second wave', having used the first wave to break down the previous structures.

But I was taught that in the 70s, from facts.

Re:UBI, it's about time

[fish_in_the_c]

1) standard of living has been proven to be nearly irrelevant to happiness, once ones basic needs have been met, 'precieved' differences in wealth tend to have a much higher effect on happiness then actual wealth.

2) your second statement is only true if you cherry pick your dataset. if you include all socialist republics , russia, china, cuba, etc what you are saying is decidedly not true or at best uprovable.

3) Sense of purpose and a feeling of community ( aka contentedness) are much more important to happiness in my personal observation. Socialism undermines the first by treating everything people do as of equal value and the often times undermines the second by creating a police state where any divination from the 'norm' frowned upon. It also robs people of the sense of purpose often derivative from the religious experience as many socialist governments are passively or even actively anti-religion.