CLEVELAND — It’s an appealing hook for a 2020 Democrat, especially in key Midwestern states with rebounding economies — a universal basic income of $1,000 a month for every adult.
“Obviously, who wouldn’t love free money?” said Robert Kvasne, a 26-year-old student, after hearing long-shot Democratic candidate Andrew Yang address a small crowd at a Cleveland church on Sunday.
In a two-day swing through Ohio, Mr. Yang introduced activists to his signature policy proposal, which he has rebranded a “Freedom Dividend.” As much as the 44-year-old entrepreneur is known on the 2020 campaign trail — a Feb. 4 survey from Monmouth University had 1 percent of Democrats naming him as their top choice — it’s for his embrace of a universal basic income, which other politicians have often written off as too unrealistic and costly.
But Mr. Yang sees it as a necessity to get Americans through the next massive economic upheaval he predicts will happen once automation takes over the nation’s biggest industries (think self-driving trucks).
“This country is about to come apart at the seams because we’re about to blast away the most common jobs in our society, so we need to finish Dr. King’s work right now and bring it home,” Mr. Yang said, referring to the late Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., who in the 1960s called for a guaranteed income.
“We celebrate his birthday every year and we ignore that aspect of his vision,” he said, adding the civil rights activist “didn’t know about artificial intelligence. He didn’t know about self-driving trucks.”
Mr. Yang has said he would pay for his $2 trillion plan to give all Americans $12,000 a year by implementing a value-added tax, a consumption tax levied at each stage of the supply chain — something he contends would force tech giants such as Amazon and Google to pay their fair share in taxes.
While there are no models of a universal basic income implemented on more than a test basis in developed nations, Mr. Yang cites as a success Alaska’s Permanent Fund, which provides its residents a modest annual payout from a state investment fund established with oil revenues in 1982.
Mr. Yang’s campaign website runs the gamut of policy proposals — from Medicare for all and paid family leave to a local journalism fund and a text-line to report nuisance robocalls.
His campaign slogan, “Humanity First,” was emblazoned on a sign behind him at Christ Lutheran Church.
“A lot of people think the opposite of humanity is robots, which I guess is true. Other people think the opposite of humanity is money — maybe,” he said. “But I’m going to suggest the opposite of humanity is soulless corporations.”
In Cleveland, Mr. Yang was encroaching on the home turf of another possible 2020 contender — Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown, who will announce in less than two weeks whether he will run for president. In polls, Mr. Yang brings up the rear of the pack behind Mr. Brown and Sens. Kamala Harris (Calif.), Elizabeth Warren (Mass.), and Cory Booker (N.J.).
He represents a younger contingent that includes Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, 37; South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, 37; and Mr. Booker, 49.
A graduate of Brown University and Columbia Law School, Mr. Yang has not held elected office. He’s known for founding the nonprofit Venture America, which sends recent college graduates to work at start-ups in developing cities.
“The message I want to leave you all with is you should look for someone who is actually going to improve the lives of you and your families,” Mr. Yang said. “The best way to do that is put economic resources into our hands ... The only thing we can really control in this country is our capital flows.”
He sees his economic message resonating with activists across Ohio — a state President Trump won by 8 percentage points in 2016.
“The biggest response I’ve been getting is enthusiasm and understanding of the economy. People in Ohio saw what happened in their communities when manufacturing jobs left and they’re excited that someone is talking about it and wants to do something about it,” he said.
“I wasn’t really for it until I started listening to him,” Mr. Kvasne said of Mr. Yang’s Freedom Dividend. “I’m from Old Brooklyn in Cleveland. There’s small mom-and-pop shops that are opening up and if every adult in that community had an extra 50 bucks to go toward getting that cup of coffee or go into that chocolate store, that’s going to fuel the local economy ... instead of having another McDonald’s coming in.”
“We’re struggling at the bottom,” said LaVonne Williams, a 51-year-old ride-share driver — another industry that stands to be upended by automation. “It’s hard to leave a legacy for your kids.”
First Published February 24, 2019, 10:41 p.m.
