Article content continued

Maybe that’s part of the attraction; I’m no Democrat or tech millionaire, but I have a decent amount in common with Andrew Yang. We’re almost the same age (less than a year apart), and both of us have impressive educational credentials (including degrees from first-rate American law schools) which we haven’t used for their conventional purposes.

Yang lasted five months as a lawyer before realizing it wasn’t the right job for him, while it took me closer to two years; still, we both ended up finding more creative outlets for our talents. One other commonality: a powerful tendency to root for and respect the underdog. “I grew up as a skinny Asian kid who was often ignored or picked on,” Yang has said. “It stuck with me and branded my soul. As I grew up, I tried to stick up for whoever seemed excluded or marginalized.”

It’s not unusual for a Democrat to consider himself on the side of the marginalized. What sets Yang apart, and puts him in my good books, is his assumption that the excluded and marginalized are capable individuals who know what they want and need, not hapless wretches who must be guided by hand and spoon-fed. The excluded and marginalized are people like him; people who will decide their own destiny and achieve their own version of success given the opportunity.

There is a sense in the liberal punditry that Yang blew it in the late-July primary debate when he stated that it’s too late to reverse climate change. Yang said the Earth is going to keep warming, even if carbon emissions are curbed dramatically. This is a heretical thing to say as a Democrat even though it’s true. It was similarly impious but accurate of him to point out that the best way to protect people from the ill effects of climate change “is to put economic resources into your hands so you can protect yourself and your families.”