UBI: This is the one guy who gets it

Andrew Yang on Real Time with Bill Maher (HBO)

Of all the Democratic presidential hopefuls, Yang is the only one who seems to fully understand this. I heard him speak on NPR not long ago, and agreed with everything he said.

In terms of his likelihood of securing the DNC slot in the general election, among that wide field of candidates Yang is pretty far down the list -- Business Insider puts him at #9, just ahead of Jay Inslee.

The most likely picks currently appear to be Biden, Sanders, and Warren. Biden rejects the idea of UBI. Sanders is in favor, but seems to think it's too soon to talk about it. Not sure what Warren believes. (Democrats Tiptoe Around Universal Basic Income)

Sure, education is great; free college and forgiving student debt are fabulous ideas and could shift more of the workforce into the high-paying high tech job sector. It just isn't going to be enough, not by a long shot. You won't get a majority of those millions of 50-year-old truck drivers, having lost their jobs to self-driving trucks, to become software developers. Many of those people will transition into other low-paying jobs, another portion of which will be automated away in turn, five or ten years on. Many more will drop out of the job market.

UBI may not answer the question "what do I do with myself if I can't have a paying job?" That's a much deeper and more personal question, about where one derives meaning from human existence, than any government can address. With its strong Protestant work ethic, America is going to have a harder time answering this question than many other countries.

But I think it's misguided, when a country's worth of people are seeking a better path towards the cliff, to offer them easier, faster, more efficient ways over the cliff. We should instead acknowledge that this is a real problem, that jobs are not necessarily the answer to everything, that there may be no reasonable way to ensure everyone will have a job that pays a living wage. A truly courageous, inspiring candidate will face this head-on, and suggest ways to rethink the economy. It's time to divorce the paycheck from our sense of self-worth.

I hope the other leading candidates can be convinced to add this critical idea to their own platforms. Having a real alternative proposal (something a lot smarter than "keep the immigrants out") that could help the vast numbers of Americans being squeezed in this economy? That is how you beat Trump in the general election.

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