Sun. Dec 22nd, 2024
Andrew Yang on UBI

original article from: Vox

The former presidential candidate discusses universal basic income, artificial intelligence, and his next job in politics.

The last time Andrew Yang was on The Ezra Klein Show, he was just beginning his long-shot campaign for the presidency. Now, he’s fresh off a speaking slot at the Democratic National Convention and, as he reveals in this episode, talking to Joe Biden about a very specific role in a Biden administration.

Which is all to say: A lot has changed for Andrew Yang in the past few years. And even more has changed in the world. So I asked Yang back on the show to talk through this new world and his possible role in it.


LEFT VIEWPOINTS

  • UBI (Universal Basic Income) is a modification to our current economic system that ensures nobody has zero income.
  • The general idea is that some money flows to every American in a less bureaucratic way. Currently, welfare systems are complicated and require means-testing, which has the unintended side effect of keeping people poor.
  • UBI could help prevent issues like a “K” shaped economic recovery.
  • UBI is not a new concept. Leaders, politicians, and historical figures such as Thomas Paine, Martin Luther King, and Milton Friedman have proposed UBI in some manner.
  • UBI is essentially a free-market way of providing an economic safety net and would help prevent homelessness, generational welfare, and the economic collapse from AI job losses.

By LeftViewpoint

I am politically left by U.S. standards, although I'd be considered moderate in most European Countries. I believe in universal healthcare, a UBI, equal opportunity to education, and expanded democracy. I think the free market works best for most industries. However, I am convinced that some industries, such as healthcare and education, do not respond to market forces and should be publically funded. Additionally, I believe industries that damage and destroy the environment should be regulated. My views are my own, and they do not necessarily represent what other people on the left believe. In that sense, LeftViewpoint is "a" left viewpoint, not "the" left viewpoint.

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