What does a Canadian have to do with American politics? Shouldn’t he just be concerned about his own country and keep his nose out of other country’s affairs?

The answer to that is no. Anything that happens down in the United States, affects Canada in more ways then we think. We share the largest and undisrupted land border in the world with the United States and they are also our largest trading partner. Also, the links between our culture, media and cultural identity with the United States have defined Canada as a whole. America and Canada are connected at the hip. Nearly every piece of media I consume is American, and all the major political news I’m interested in comes from the United States. Political policies and culture from the United States affect Canada alot. Also with families having relatives on both side of the borders, also ties us together even closer.

The 2020 election is going to be the most important US election ever. This truly is a turning point for the United States. Will Trump win again in 2020 ( if he isn’t impeached)? Maybe. If the Democrats can get their stuff together, they might stand a decent chance of stopping him. And there’s one man I believe that can accomplish the job. His name is Andrew Yang.

A bit of background in my involvement in US politics. I have never physically gone and volunteered for US political campaigns in the past. I supported Bernie Sanders in 2016 because he brought something new and refreshing to the table. His ideas and policies felt like what America needed and he represented the progressive change I would like to see inside the USA and the Democratic party. Unfortunately, he lost to Clinton and we all know how that turned out. I was so-so in my support of her, as she felt part of the status quo and because of the baggage, the Clintons carry. But she was lesser the two of evils and I would rather her over Trump, any other day. Also, she was a woman and it would have great to have the first woman president. But, none of this came to pass.

In the post-truth, Trumpian era we live in, politics within the United States has become divided like never before. While these divides have always existed within the United States, thanks to social media, it’s in everyone’s faces and it broadcasted so much louder than it ever was. Everyone is forced to chose a side, and the world has become polarized. Both sides demonized the hell out of each other, calling each other evil and the spawn of Satan. Partisan politics is more alive than it ever was before. People are more aware of the problems within our society, thanks to social media.

Going into the 2020 election cycle, I was inclined to support Bernie Sanders or Joe Biden. But with Bernie’s advancing age and Joe’s allegations of inappropriate behavior with women, I found I couldn’t support them. I love Bernie and his policies, but I don’t want him to croak over in the Oval Office and die. He should have won in 2016. I would feel different about his age because he would be the President, and wouldn’t be there until he was 88 or something. Also given his recent health complications with his heart attack, this questions the state of his health and if he is medically fit to serve in office. And Joe Biden for me, represents the status quo too much, bringing the same sort of moderate Democratic policies that caused them to lose in 2016. I wanted someone who was progressive and young and could bring about real change. And then I learned about Andrew Yang.

When I first heard about him, I didn’t take him seriously. He was polling at 1% and he stood no chance in my view. But for some reason over the summer, watching him in debates and on social media, I somehow found myself attracted to his message. I don’t know what it was. I had gone from supporting Bernie Sanders to Pete Buttigieg, but Andrew’s message resonated with me the most. He felt he was truly preparing the United States for the future with talks of AI, automation, fighting climate change and of course, UBI.

People have called his campaign pessimistic, but I would argue the opposite. It feels very positive and Andrew brings something new and different to US politics in a good way.

But who is Andrew Yang? For those who don’t know who he is, Andrew Yang is a 44-year-old entrepreneur, lawyer, and philanthropist from Schenectady, New York. Born to Taiwanese immigrants, Andrew went to Brown University, graduating in where he majored in economics and political science and graduated in 1996. He also attended Columbia Law School and graduated with a Juris Doctor in 1999. I’ll let Andrew himself, tell you more about himself.

Andrew was also named a “Champion for Change” by the Obama Administration in 2012. What this award means is this:

“Champions of Change was an initiative started by the Obama White House to highlight Americans who have made an impact in their communities and helped “our country rise to meet the many challenges of the 21st century.” [1] The Champions of Change program was created as an opportunity for the White House to feature individuals, businesses and organizations doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their communities”

In 2015, he was given the distinction of Presidential Ambassadors for Global Entrepreneurship, another Obama-era award related to pioneering entrepreneurs in America.

What insriped Andrew to run for President is this. After reading a book called Rise of the Machines by Martin Ford, he became interested in the idea of UBI ( or Universal Basic Income). Seeing also how much automation was affecting jobs all across the United States, and the rise of AI in the future, Andrew decided to run in 2017. One of the first candidates to run, he started his campaign for President on November 6, 2017. He also cited technological change, automation, job displacement, and the economy for key reasons why he was running.

He stated in 2018, one of the major reasons why Trump won in 2016, was due to the loss of worker’s jobs in relation to automation and the displacement that occurred because of it, was a major reason that he ran. So, what are Andrew’s policies? Well, he has over 160 listed on his website, but there are three that are central to his campaign. He likes to call them the “Freedom Dividend” (UBI), Medicare for All and ” Human-Centered- Capitalism”. So, what are these?

the Freedom Dividend or Universal Basic Income is the proposal by Andrew to give every citizen over the age of 18 in the USA, $1,000, every month, no strings attached and regardless of economic or other types of background. Here’s Andrew himself explaining what UBI or the Freedom Dividend is.

How would he pay for it? Well here’s how it would work:

Here’s Andrew also on the Stephen Colbert Show explaining it more in-depth:

You can also go to his website if you want a further in-depth explanation of how it would work:

Now, we’ve got what the explanation of what his Freedom Divided would be, how it would work and how he would pay for it, let’s look at Medicare for All would be like.

Medicare for All is a simple concept to explain. It means that Andrew would transition from the multi-payer health care system that exists within the United States, to a single-payer one. This is universal health care and we have it here in Canada. But Andrew would allow people to keep their private plans if they wanted, but still, use the universal healthcare system that would exist under his presidency. Here’s Andrew explaining it again and how he would pay for it.

Using the same tax, the VAT tax, this is how Andrew would tackle funding for Medicare for All. Here’s him on Ben Shaprio ( despite how much I despise Ben), talking more about the policy:

Turning to Human-Centered-Capitalism, this is what it is.

Andrew wants to change how we measure economic and societal wellbeing, instead of relying upon job statistics and GDP and the level of income. Instead, he wants to measure levels of people’s happiness or other things such as health, cybersecurity, etc. Here’s how he would reform the US economy:

As President, I will…

Change the way we measure the economy, from GDP and the stock market to a more inclusive set of measurements that ensures humans are thriving, not barely making it by. New measurements like Median Income and Standard of Living, Health-adjusted Life Expectancy, Mental Health, Childhood Success Rates, Social and Economic Mobility, Absence of Substance Abuse, and others will give us a much clearer and more powerful sense of how we are doing both individually and as a society.

Rein in corporate excesses by appointing regulators who are paid a lot of money – competitive with senior jobs in the private sector – but then will be prohibited from going to private industry afterward. Regulators need to be focused on making the right decisions and policies for the public with zero concern for their next position.

The government’s goal should be to drive individuals and organizations to find new ways to improve the standards of living of individuals and families on these dimensions. In order to spur development, the government should issue a new currency – the Digital Social Credit – which can be converted into dollars and used to reward people and organizations that drive significant social value. This new currency would allow people to measure the amount of good that they have done through various programs and actions.

Here’s a full list of what he would measure in his new economic platform:

He has a pretty good and sound economic policy in my view, but this isn’t exactly my strongest field, so I’ll leave a link to his website that will explain his policies more in-depth.

So, why do I think Andrew Yang should be President? Well, as I said, he brings something new and refreshing to the table. He’s progressive in his social beliefs, he’s preparing us for the future and he’s young. His policies of tackling automation and helping give back the American people jobs is another reason I support him.

Andrew, unlike the other candidates, seems to understand how damaging automation is to Americans and American jobs. I could compare him to Elon Musk, he’s just alot smarter. AI, whether it gains self-awareness or not, will play a bigger role in our lives and economy. We’re already seeing it invade our homes via Alexas, Google Homes, and other home assistants. They can control the lights, locks, stoves and more important things in our home. It will also affect our jobs, with more and more machines taking over our jobs. This will leave millions without jobs and angered with the status quo, leading to people like Donald Trump getting elected. This is where UBI would come in.

UBI would allow people to be able to actually live and be a productive member of society. It could allow parents to save up for their kid’s college or university. It could allow families to go on more vacations together. It could help pay rent and food, which can cost alot of money. UBI could radically transform American society. We already have limited forms of it in the form of old-age pension, childcare benefits ( here in Canada) and conditional cash transfer. With the carbon tax here in Canada, I get $300-1000 back in taxes a year from the government, so it already kind of exists in Canada. For those who are concerned that it would be sent on drugs, according to test projects and studies, it was found to the opposite:

“However, studies of the impact of direct cash transfer programs provide evidence to the contrary. A 2014 World Bank review of 30 scientific studies concludes: “Concerns about the use of cash transfers for alcohol and tobacco consumption are unfounded”.

But most importantly, it can help bring down income inequality. It could bring millions of Americans out of poverty. By helping give Americans the economic tools they need to get jobs, UBI can do alot.

Another reason why I’m supporting Andrew Yang for President is his ability to bring together people of different political beliefs from across the spectrum. While he’s unfortunately attracted some unsavory ( and pieces of shit) people in the form of white nationalists and alt-right nutjobs ( thanks alot 4chan and their trolling for this problem to occur), he’s done alot to bring people together. Bernie supporters, moderate Democrats, Libertarians, moderate Republicans, centrists, and Trump supporters have all rallied behind his message. I’ve seen countless posts about former Trump supporters switching over and deciding to vote for Andrew. I don’t know hoe he’s attracting their support, but his ideas of people losing their jobs to automation, has something to do with it. Millions were affected and he’s one of the only real candidates to talk about it. I read a story of a former, young, radicalized alt-right supporter who became de-radicalized as a result of Andrew’s message: https://www.reddit.com/r/YangForPresidentHQ/comments/chx1s4/andrew_yang_and_his_campaign_is_what_ended_up/

If someone like Andrew bring someone out of the depths of despair and make them realize how wrong their racist and sexist views were, he’s doing something right. We need someone in these times to be able to unite the country, but at the same time be progressive. Andrew is the man for the job. We need someone to prepare us for the future. Andrew is the man for that

I also support Andrew because he’s of a minority and I would like to see more representation in our politics. It could encourage Asian-Americans to become more involved in politics, which is a good thing. It shows how diversity is a strength and he could be like Obama again.

This is why I support Andrew Yang for President 2020. I’m a proud member of the Yang Gang, and who knows what the future holds for him. Yang Gang rise up!

If you have any other questions about his campaign, please message me or check any of the 160 policies listed on his website: https://www.yang2020.com/