When I first heard about Andrew Yang’s campaign, it was about 3 to 4 months ago from a Facebook ad. I can’t remember exactly what it said but I saw “$1000 a month for every adult over 18”. My curiosity made me click the video to listen what he had to say.

From the second I heard him speak, I thought to myself, “Wow, he doesn’t sound like a politician I ever heard of.” The only president who had the same flair and charisma was President Obama. The way Andrew spoke on how technology is changing the way the world works really resonated with me. It felt like I was in a class and he was my professor.

As someone who is always on top of the latest technology and the “online digital world”, it was something that always sparked my interest even though I am in film industry as an actor. The first thing I thought of when he announced his Freedom Dividend (which is the $1000 per month I mentioned above), was “Man, what could I do with $1000 per month”. My brain literally flooded with entrepreneurial ideas and how I could finally move my life towards the west coast where my career opportunities are.

I wanted to research more on Yang, so I decided to check YouTube for interviews. Video after video, just listening to Andrew speak, I could literally feel my IQ rising. It really started to rejuvenate my mind in ways I used to think about the world. I was never really into politics. I was one of the independent voters (however, registered as democrat) who sometimes felt like my vote didn’t matter; especially as an African American male. Which is the opposite of mindset that more people in our communities need. However, with the influx of knowledge and understanding to relay complex figures into simple terms, I was excited about his platform. So, I followed him on Twitter, which I barely used, and had since 2009.

When I listened how Andrew Yang dug deeper into his policies, and how it affects everyone as a whole; he’s is the best candidate to really progress the country to a future that works for us. He is the first candidate I ever donated to and followed on social media.

The main point of this is, the nagging problems in particular black communities. Our communities, by the numbers, are some of the worst in terms of economic wealth, infrastructure and health. I’ve seen a numerous amount of people on my social media speak how they will only vote for a candidate if they are pro-reparations, which Yang is. If they didn’t have a policy for it, they wouldn’t vote. I’m here to really wake people up to the fact that the Freedom Dividend is really the closest thing we can get to reparations right now.

$1000 per month bill.

Imagine $1000 a month in your hands and every other black family. Now imagine a group of them coming together to fund: schools, after school activities, buying land, buying back stores, volunteer work, day care, struggling families trying to get by, homelessness, building up abandon homes; the list goes on and on.

We can really invest into our market and have the black dollar circulate through the local economy. Just imagine how drastically the community would change. From a psychological and financial trajectory. The communities will become safer, the housing market will start to bloom, stress over bills goes down, people can not worry about their next meal.

This isn’t just for African American communities but to all. We talk about how terrible skid row is in Los Angeles; imagine eliminating skid row and funding housing for the homelessness. They would have their basic needs met. They can finally clean themselves up, get decent clothes and look presentable for a job interview. The decency to have a hot meal without begging and to have a hot shower at night. It really would have a positive psychological affect on us all.

The travel industry would see a boom in business. More people will have time and money to travel. Literally every aspect of creative arts would see a surge in revenue. Audio engineers will have more clients due to customers who have money to fund albums and artists can produce quality music with their budget. Writers will have the freedom to write full time and not put their writing craft to the side. More independent films being made. Every category you can name, the Freedom Dividend helps, progresses and fundamentally changes our economic in a direction that works for everyone. The keyword is everyone. No one is left behind with the Freedom Dividend.

Andrew Yang is the only candidate who has ran a business and comes from the technological world, so he understands first hand how technology is changing our lives. We can see it now. Everything is becoming digital. From our money, news, books to media. Data is where the money is. And data is what is valued at by trillions of dollars and the public will see little to none of that money. Understand that our data is now worth more than oil. Something we can’t actually touch, is worth more than the oil industry. Have you gotten your data check in the mail? Didn’t think so.

So, how to pay for the Freedom Dividend. We would pay for it by a tax (VAT) on huge tech companies like: Amazon, Uber, Facebook and so forth. These companies pay less taxes than you and me yet they are making billions each year. Does that make sense?

Amazon itself is currently closing brick and mortar stores by driving all of the business online. What happens when people start shopping more online? People stop coming to stores and then those stores start to lay off employees because there’s no need. Even retail giants like Wal-mart are starting to lay people off because they can save money, time and error by replacing humans with machines/ AI; which they are been doing since the introduction of self-checkout.

So with this VAT on these companies, the public will receive a tiny % from each digital transaction and AI based production. Since they are automating and replacing jobs, those people will be out of work and see no gains from the innovation. But with this VAT in place, the public can receive a safety net into their next line of work which will help with the transition. It’s a win/win on both sides.

This VAT is in every other advance economy in the world at 20%. These tech companies will not move because under Yang's plan, the U.S. Vat would be 10%. Inflation wouldn’t happen because we aren’t printing money and this money just circulates back into the economy; the money doesn’t disappear. Business wouldn’t raised their prices because we would hold the buying power. If they try to raise their prices, people will start to shop elsewhere. And by doing that, the business would lose customers. The other business that didn’t raise it prices, will get all of the customers. This would create a healthy competition between businesses firms. You can see it in fast food with the chicken nuggets from Burger King and McDonald's. Look at how they market their prices and quantity for a “better deal” than the other.

The fact of the matter is, Andrew Yang is someone who is detailed oriented to help steer this country in the direction that benefits all humanity. We have been divided far too long and there are more essential threats to our way of life than greed and prejudice. I know Andrew Yang can go all the way. Lets create this wave so we all can stay a float. 🌊🌊

I made a song about Andrew Yang’s Freedom Dividend here