Presidential hopeful Andrew Yang, who is running on a platform of a $1,000 Universal Basic Income (UBI) — or “freedom dividend” — to combat job losses due to automation, has previously said on Twitter that this income could reduce stress levels. Yang has also claimed that universal basic income could improve the mental health of Americans across the board.
On Thursday, Breitbart reports that Yang’s Iowa campaign coordinator, Jonathan Herzog, echoed these sentiments — and also said that a UBI could douse the flames of antisemitism. He claims automation “will likely” fuel antisemitism through “winner-take-all dynamics and resentment,” and suggests that the UBI could be used to combat this surge.
“We can talk about anti-semitism or we can do something about it. The #FreedomDividend might just be that something.”
Yang suggests that a significant amount of job stress stems from a survival instinct. He says that without this instinct looming over people, they would likely respond differently to many situations — a new paradigm which could see decreased violence from disgruntled employees, thanks to a more secure financial future.
“I’d say that is very possible and even likely over a large number of cases. Stress kills and financial stress kills. Universal Basic Income would save lives.”
UBI advocate Scott Santens agrees with Yang, and has no “doubt that UBI would significantly reduce the number of shootings in America across the board: mass shootings, suicides by gun, gang violence, all of it.”
Congrats @RashidaTlaib for introducing a bill that’s the closest thing to Universal Basic Income we have seen in decades ??? https://t.co/VbRC2JV5Oq
— Andrew Yang????? (@AndrewYang) June 7, 2019
Yang plans to pay for his UBI proposal by taxing big tech companies like Facebook, Google, and Amazon. He highlights the fact that Amazon has been a significant factor in the closure of competing retail stores across the country, which has led to job loss. The 44-year-old serial entrepreneur claims that automation is the leading cause of these losses, and suggests that the 4 million manufacturing jobs lost to automation in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Pennsylvania likely contributed to the election of President Donald Trump.
“There’s a straight line up between the adoption of industrial robots in a community and the movement towards Donald Trump.”
As The Inqusitr reported, Yang came in second in terms of small-donor donations for Democratic 2020 presidential candidates last quarter. He was only topped by Bernie Sanders, whom Yang criticized for removing him from a graph that visually represented these metrics. Yang suggested that Sanders omitting him from the graph was a sign that the Vermont senator sees him as a threat.
FTFY @BernieSanders #YangGang pic.twitter.com/HtGx8XFul0
— Zach Graumann (@Zach_Graumann) April 17, 2019
Today, Yang is set to appear on The Rubin Report at 3:30 p.m. EST, via YouTube . He will reportedly discuss his UBI proposal, the 2020 election, Donald Trump, and other pertinent political issues.
