Andrew Yang Says Society Has ‘Confused Economic Value With Human Value’
Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang recently spoke at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics with American political consultant David Axelrod about various topics related to his campaign. At one point, Axelrod and Yang spoke about their experiences raising special needs children, which prompted a discussion about how the current United States society values human worth.
“This is really the underpinning of why I’m running for president,” Yang began.
The 44-year-old serial entrepreneur then asked what his or Axelrod’s children would be valued at if the decision was left up to the “market.”
“We’re in this position where we’re actually arguing that we should turn coal miners into coders because we have confused economic value and human value. Where if the market says you have no economic value, then you are valueless, and then we have to find some other way to plug you into the machine for you to have any value.”
Yang shed doubt on the current “meritocracy” that purportedly rewards “hard work and character” and suggested that this economic model is “ridiculous.”
The democratic candidate’s comments echo his discussion on The Breakfast Club with Charlamagne tha God — available on YouTube — during which the pair discussed whether some billionaires deserve fortunes and other people don’t.
“Human worth and quote on quote ‘smart’ don’t have a relationship really,” Yang said.
Not long after, Yang added that the people who are affected most by the current economy are black people, people of color, women, and others who get pushed to the sidelines by a “fundamentally super-capitalist marketplace.”
Democratic presidential candidate @AndrewYang outlines why he’s in the race during a live taping of the #AxeFiles
“We have confused economic value and human value.” pic.twitter.com/lRtwQU9EDz
— UChicago Institute of Politics (IOP) (@UChiPolitics) December 5, 2019
Yang’s campaign centers around a universal basic income (UBI) of $1,000 per month for every American adult. Although the proposal is part of his solution to the rise of automation, which he believes threatens to displace many workers, the candidate has also noted that it would provide value to people that the current economy does not, such as stay-at-home mothers and caregivers.
To create a market centered more on human value, Yang proposes rewriting the measurements of a successful economy. His “Improve the American Scorecard” policy page proposes new measurements in addition to gross domestic product (GDP), including childhood success rates, happiness/well-being and mental health, and infant mortality levels.
Per The Hill, Yang believes that GDP is an outdated measurement. He notes that the automation of trucks will likely be “great” for GDP but “terrible” for the truckers that will be out of jobs as well as the businesses that serve them during their travels.
