Your Idea of Andrew Yang Might Be Totally Wrong

The Silicon Valley candidate thinks technology is 'leading America into the abyss'
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Nov 5, 2019 11:54 AM CST
The Man Polling 6th Just Needs You to Know About Him
Democratic presidential candidate entrepreneur Andrew Yang speaks during the Iowa Democratic Party's Liberty and Justice Celebration, Friday, Nov. 1, 2019, in Des Moines, Iowa.   (AP Photo/Nati Harnik)

You'd think that a presidential candidate who invokes chants of "PowerPoint, PowerPoint, PowerPoint!" before taking the stage would be a Silicon Valley darling. But Andrew Yang's "candidacy is something of a toxic bouillabaisse for the tech industry," writes Nicholas Thompson for Wired. Sure, Yang is called a tech entrepreneur, has traded the flag lapel pin for one reading "MATH" (that's "Make America Think Harder"), and kills on Reddit. But "his whole message is premised on the dangers of automation taking away jobs and the risks of artificial intelligence." Yang tells Thompson that a dive into the voter district data after Trump's win showed correlation between "the adoption of industrial robots and the movement toward Trump in each voting area in the Midwest."

That leaves us with a candidate who is "using the best of modern technology to explain why modern technology is leading America into the abyss," writes Thompson. Though Yang is polling in 6th place right now, his supporters believe he really can end up in the Oval Office—it's just a matter of exposure: More people simply need to learn about him. And for those curious about Yang, Thompson's piece exposes plenty: It recounts Yang's key Joe Rogan interview; fleshes out his freedom dividend (that's $1,000 a month for life for every American adult) idea and the three major criticisms of it; explores his campaign's big weakness; clarifies his net worth (it's thought to be 1/12th of Elizabeth Warren's); and explains why he's likely to to remain standing well into primary season. (Read the full piece here.)

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