I am Andrew Juan, and I was the National Youth Director for the Yang2020 Presidential Campaign! I'm here to answer questions on youth engagement in politics and the 2020 election! Ask Me Anything!

What do you think of Yang's endorsement of Biden at a critical time in the election? And working for CNN right after?

Yang made a very smart decision to endorse Biden so early, as (in my opinion), Bernie had no chance and was declining after Super Tuesday. Working for CNN was interesting, but potentially a smart decision to increase name recognition and help get his name out there.

Do you feel that we should encourage the "celebritization" of our politicians and encourage interacting with politics on that superficial level?

I think politicians need to not be elevated to celebrity status because they're supposed to represent and be in touch with the people. Too many politicians are like that, and politics has become dependent on being a known celebrity. Just like Yang has said before, this is all just a reality TV show.

So Jay-Z cant come back to the white house?

Haha, I think inviting celebrities is fine, but it's more of the glorification of politicians instead.

Andrew Yang brought a lot of people to the table based on ideals and then hung on for a long time, despite trailing numbers, because he believed it was important to have his ideals heard. He didn't stand a chance long BEFORE super Tuesday, but he stayed on to get those ideas out there for as long as he could. Given that, isn't it antithetical that he would endorse a candidate purely to put an end to the primary?

I think that it was clear that his ideas had already been out there and based on the time, could only go out that far. So I think it makes sense for him to endorse Biden because of the context of the situation, to start building the coalition behind Biden going into November.

So he backed him because he was leading? Usually people endorse because they agree with them and think their presidency would benefit the country. Yang didn’t seem to agree with Biden, in fact, in an early interview he said Biden would be going backwards as a country.

I think unfortunately that was the decision that had to be made. In addition, an endorsement of Bernie would have further split the party at the time and I don't think that was necessary as personally, I didn't feel that Bernie could beat Trump. I think endorsements are actually also misleading, as an endorsement of Biden was more of a courtesy to Biden as the frontrunner and as someone who at least recognized the fourth industrial revolution and maybe considered a UBI plan.

Bernie could absolutely beat Trump. Especially now, when his policies would greatly benefit during a pandemic, economic collapse, and civil unrest. The media and establishment just successfully convinced enough people that supporting candidates (including Yang) with popular policies that would benefit them was “too risky”.

My personal view was that he couldn't. He was too divisive, his supporters alienated the supporters of many others (including Yang's), and he wouldn't be able to build a bipartisan coalition against Trump. Republicans that disliked Trump disliked Bernie even more...

What do you think this says of his commitment towards building power in movements though? Obviously Yang’s endorsement was nowhere near as significant as Warren’s failure to drop out and lack of an endorsement, but I’m just curious why you consider it smart? Like a smart decision for his personal career or smart for actually achieving things?

I think it was smart for mainly achieving things. It solidified Biden as the candidate and didn't make Andrew look self-absorbed by what both Warren and Bernie did by trying to survive a hopeless battle.

This comment makes it seem like the whole "Obama getting Klobuchar and Buttigieg to drop out" scheme didn't happen. You make it seem like Bernie was running for glorification of himself and not the people who supported him. There's a reason why Yang supporters dropped him once he started becoming more corporate.

I'd disagree. Bernie himself might have not, but imo, his hardcore supporters made it all about Bernie. Bernie should have disavowed those supporters who were just as bad as the hardcore Trump supporters. Yang never became more corporate imo, he still believes in what he believed in.

Do you think Biden should offer Andrew Yang a spot in his cabinet? And how likely do you think this would be?

I think it'd be great if he did, but frankly, I'm not sure how likely it will be though.

Hey! What are your plans for the future? Working behind the scenes like you have been? Or do you want to run for office yourself?

I'm getting ready for the college application process so far, and I hope to study Healthcare Policy and do pre-med actually (Cornell notice me haha). I've always had interest in medicine, but politics came into my life which has helped drive me towards studying that intersection of the two fields. I hope to become a doctor, get a masters in Public Health, but also certainly run for office. I think it's important that we have professionals in these sorts of fields that run for office or at least are present in politics on the national level. One of my big idols right now is Dr. Fauci, as a doctor but also a voice that the American people listen to and can trust. We need more medical professionals in that public position!

hey dude! i sent you a pm about something interesting medically related, id love for you to check it out if you're interested!

I sent you a reply! Thanks for sharing!

This is fascinating! What drew you into politics and made you decide that you wanted to get involved?

So volunteering with the Yang campaign in April of 2019 was actually my first step into politics! I was drawn to him by (obviously) his UBI proposal, but also the fact that he wasn't a normal politician and he recognized facts and provided ideas for tangible solutions rather than talk off questions and pander! I realized I wanted to get more and more involved as the campaign grew and I really wanted to help Yang win! He is an inspiration to me as a young Asian American as well, and I was glad to be working for a candidate that I personally believed in! Thanks for your question! :)

I apologize, with your last name I assumed you were Hispanic.

Haha, no worries! It happens often!

Drew... lol.. bc AnDREW Yang and AnDREW Juan. Get it?

Hahaha this is great!

How do I get on board to start working for 2024?

Haha, I love your enthusiasm! While we're not planning for that long term yet, you can get involved with the YACU and get involved in politics in general: https://discord.yacu.org

Oh, I’m not young. I mean a contact- if you can PM me. I’m retired, don’t need pay, I volunteered for the campaign last year, sent in a resume. I could never contact anyone!

Oh, I don't know about that unfortunately. I would encourage you to check out movehumanityforward.com

How in the hell is an average citizen supposed to figure out how to run for public office? Like, are there resources for the common person to learn how to run for local/state office? And, how do you get practical support and advice?

You don't know! That's the problem. Our current system makes it very difficult to run for office. We need a way to simplify that, and I hope it changes in the future.

Arent you dissapointed with Joe Biden?

I am.

Would you mind explaining why you're disappointed with Joe Biden? Is it more about Biden himself or more about being disappointed that your candidate didn't win?

I'm certainly disappointed that Yang didn't win, but I'm more disappointed with the fact that Biden even ran this year. I'm also disappointed with Biden's lack of, I guess, engagement overall. Biden isn't the best at supporter engagement and is dependent purely on those that are guaranteed to vote for him no matter what.

You know, I just plain like how you talk.

Thank you! I put effort into what I write and what I present.

Wow I didnt thin you would answer, much love from Hungary, keep up the good work guys!!!

Haha, thanks for your support! :)

Is everyone on the campaign an Andrew? Is one of the main campaign points to rule the world with Andrews in power

Haha, no it's not. However, I did know an Andy, another Andrew, a Drew, and at least one other variant of the name on the campaign!

what is the campaigns strategy for the opioid crisis??

I don't quite remember, but I'm sure you could probably find it online. The campaign page is currently down though...

Not really related, but did you like Yang's choice of music during the campaign?

Frankly, I didn't pay much attention to his music choice actually. He did release a Spotify playlist at one point but I lost the link then forgot about it. His entrance music was always a bop though.

Are you disappointed that the Democrats had 4 years to come up with someone to beat Trump and the best they could do was Biden?

Yep.

Were there any policies that Yang was running under that you don't support personally?

I wasn't the biggest fan of Yang's unclarity on Medicare for All...I would have preferred that he branded a new sort of concept because of his differing approach.

What advice would you have for someone who feels overwhelmed with the current political landscape, and to people who feel less ambition to vote or be informed/involved based on the deviciveness and drama of current politics?

I think sometimes, you just gotta take a step back. I know politics today can be really messy. My best advice is to take a break from it. For those that have less ambition to vote, I'd strongly encourage them to realize how important politics is to them. Politics can make or break their life, and it's their right and their duty to play a part in this democracy of ours. We need to break through the divisiveness and recognize that we're all working to better our future.

what did you people (± 18yr olds) thought of Yang‘s 16 yrs voting eligibility policy ?

I supported it personally, and I think it was definitely an interesting point for many other young folks like me.

Why do you think Bernie did not show up to vote against a bill that allows the government to freely search through your browsing history without a warrant? It was one vote away from not passing.

I'm not sure with Bernie's interests, but that's definitely a concern. I'm a big privacy dude and I don't think that the government should be allowed to search through your browsing history without a warrant.

Do you stay in contact with Yang?

I actually never had that much contact with him in the first place unfortunately. I didn't have the opportunity to see him in Boston and only saw him once in NH during the New Years party and the Nashua town hall.

alright I have a question, why do you think allowing market solutions to basic logistics problems that UBI is supposed to cover will fundamentally help things? It is markets that have brought us to this point, do you really think markets can bring us out? Why not just directly give people the housing and food and such they need? Does every aspect of our existence really have to be for sale?

While I am not an economist, I can provide my personal opinion on this. I think it's unfortunate that the economy has become controlling of people, rather than the other way around. This is one reason why I liked Yang's "trickle-up economy", rather than trickle-down, where we put money directly in the hands of the people. Our government (and politicians in general) have lost touch with the common person and don't seem to understand that people have become dependent on the economy. Another of Yang's quotes is "you're confusing human value with economic value", and I think this really applies to the last part of the question you ask. You're right, it shouldn't be for sale. We need to encourage human value rather than pure economic value. Great question! :)

Was Yang big Drew and were you Little Drew?

Haha, when I spoke to him, he did mention how I could be a mini-him! We're both named Andrew, we're both Asian, and we both have four-letter last names lol

How can people get involved in action in YACU?

We have lots of volunteer teams that you can sign up for: https://volunteer.yacu.org, and you can join the Discord server at https://discord.yacu.org.

Why do you think that we have such low youth engagement in politics?

What is the best strategy for combating it?

I answered a similar question from u/Zhaojaotheboss, but this question is a tad bit different. With regards to combating low youth engagement, I think it's more about the lack of politicians that even care about them. It's a vicious cycle right now: politicians don't care about young people because "they don't vote", young people don't care about the politicians, so they don't vote. The best strategy for combating low youth engagement is a candidate (or candidates) that can break that cycle nationally.

What do you think is responsible for the huge upswing in right wing sentiment amongst the youth?

I think our generation is less aligned by party. Last I checked, I think about 40-50% of Gen Z identified as independent. So, rather than a particular right wing sentiment, I think it's more of a fluctuation of interest as both Biden and Trump aren't quite the best at appealing to young people. The Democrats lost quite a few young people after Yang and Bernie dropped, so that sort of disconnect between the Democratic Party and young people might be the cause of a right wing/third party interest.

This a great insight, but it really irritates me to hear "The Democrats lost quite a few young people after Yang and Bernie dropped" when there was a markedly low turnout during state primaries among young people, and this is far from the first time. What do you think it'll take for record Millenial and GenZ engagement, based on your experience working for Yang?

I answered a similar question, but I think it's really about having a candidate that can truly make Millenials and Gen Z passionate about their cause. Yang and Bernie had that sort of momentum, but unfortunately, the momentum wasn't able to translate into real votes because of the early states. If we look at Iowa, Yang won the Iowa youth strawpoll actually, but those weren't eligible voters. Those states depend more on the established electorate which generally isn't young progressive voters (if I recall correctly, I might be wrong). While I can't say for certain the magic sauce that will bring record youth turn out, I think we need a candidate that can truly bring all young people together and create a culture of voting among young people.

That is interesting. I did not know that. How does your generation feel about the current demographics that are in leadership. I'm a Gen Z and loved Yang and Bernie's enthusiasm so I felt that disconnect as well.

I think Gen Z all feels that the current demographic is quite out of touch, on both ends of the political spectrum.

How do young people create conversations around UBI in other countries around the world like Yang did in the USA?

I think it's about providing the facts and the data. COVID-19 has showed us that a UBI would have been so helpful for the economy today. These sort of facts and anecdotal evidence would be helpful to create these conversations.

I found the Yang campaign particularly interesting because you all used social media differently than any other candidate ever had. This helped create greater appeal among younger voters, but I believe it also pushed away older voters, and voters like myself who are just grumpy curmudgeons. For example, the iconic Yang bitmoji-like avatar definitely helped make him more relatable to youths that frequently use similar avatars, but came off as gimmicky and pandering to the latter groups I mentioned.

My question is: Moving forward in your career, how do you plan to tackle this sort of divide? You clearly have a good grasp on appealing to youth, but the tactics employed possibly pushed away the more significant sector of older people (and grumps like myself).

Let me be clear: I praise your innovative tactics, and I consider it on your colleagues, not you, that the Yang campaign failed to appeal heavily to the older and grumpier demographics.

I think it's important to appeal to all sides obviously, and I think to heal that sort of divide, we need to create a sense of both professionalism AND fun and find that balance that is able to appeal to all ends of the age demographic. It's really all about balance, and when running for President for the first time, it's definitely going to be difficult to find that balance easily.

do you think Yang perpetuated stereotypes of Asians? Especially with his emphasis on “I’m the opposite of Donald trump...an asian who likes math” and “I’m asian I know a lot of doctors”

Also do you think media and the debates were fair to Yang, giving him proper recognition? If so were his chances to win compromised from the beginning?

I think as an Asian myself, I appreciate some of the Asian jokes as I myself often make Asian jokes to unperpetuate (if that's a word) the stereotypes. I think they were concerning to the traditional asian American community though. I don't think the media and debates were fair at all and he definitely was at a disadvantage.

I see, as an asian myself I didn’t mind since they were true for me lolz but I know some people didn’t appreciate them. Nice to hear your perspective

I wonder how Yang would have faired if he gained more news coverage and proper representation, I guess it’s too late to find out :/

Definitely, wish we could go back in time.

Why do so few young people vote?

I answered this question where u/Zhaojaotheboss and u/gath_centar asked something similar.

Will the Democrats accept the results of the 2020 election when DJT is re-elected or will they continue to riot and form sovereign nations like Chaz?

I think Democrats need to come to realize that they've made a mistake and acknowledge it. They had every opportunity to nominate someone like Yang, but didn't. I think it's also less about the riots (as those have been brought on due to political entryism) but it's more about the failures of the system and the concept of the establishment.

Sounds great. Will you be staying involved in any campaigns this cycle?

I will not be, as I'm focused on working with my nonprofit now: https://yacu.org. We're hoping that the organization will be able to start getting more political chapters (YACU chapters) in high schools and colleges this fall and help students get involved in general and explore their own interests.

What important life takeaways did you have after leaving the Yang campaign? Any new insights on life after taking on such a big task?

I think I've learned really that it's important to talk to people. Don't be afraid to email someone, call someone, and ask for something. The thing our generation often lacks is courage to talk to someone face to face. People need to realize that it's going to okay when you talk to someone. In fact, it often solves the problem.

Andrew, it was an honor to have worked under you during his campaign! Moving onward, in times of great difficulty in our nation, what do you think we need to do as a country to solve these problems and work toward a better future?

Thanks for volunteering with Youth for Yang! In the future, I think that the country needs to (1.) come to realize the power of youth and (2.) be more open minded and willing to hear the other side. Politics has become ridiculously divisive lately and the youth vote often goes ignored because "they don't vote anyways". For adults, they need to realize that our generation won't vote if they're not passionate about something. Gen Z is filled with desire and passion (as seen my all the amazing protests that are going on), and they have drive. Candidates need to give them something to be passionate for.

With regards to bipartisanship, we need to build up a mentality of open-mindedness and bipartisanship. I'm gonna subtly plug my organization here as well, the Young Americans Coalition for Unity, where we're focused on engaging youth in politics and promoting unity and bipartisanship. You can learn more at https://yacu.org. I feel that our organization is important because it's going to be the future of youth in politics, and the reason why promoting unity and bipartisanship is a central part of it is because without bipartisanship, nothing will ever get done.

Sorry for the super long response! Tl;dr: Politicians need to engage youth, and we need to create a mentality of bipartisanship: yacu.org.

It's the first time I hear the name Juan used as a last name. How weird has it been growing up with two regular names as your first and last name?

Haha, great question! Juan is translated from Chinese, so in an Asian context, it's not understood as a regular name, but obviously, in Spanish, Juan is a common first name. It's been sort of weird as many people call me Juan (it actually happened today at my doctor's appointment!), but it's awkward only for a second when I say my name's actually Andrew.

if a youth hoped to one day run for office, what would the path to that look like?

There is no "one path" to running for office. Sometimes, you just gotta try!

Why does the Democratic Party always seem to agree on the worst liked candidate?

If the dnc backed anyone remotely likable, they would’ve ran Away with the 2016 & 2020. Instead they pick Hilary & Biden, which imo will be a repeat/not have the support to beat trump, even though I believe trump to be the stupidest president in the nations history.

Thanks!

Frankly, I don't know! I think both parties need a giant reset (but actually I think we need to move to a multi-party system). I can't speak for the democratic party, but people tend to like a well-known person, so Biden was well known throughout the Obama admin.

In a position like yours, how often do you get to be in person with Yang?

Almost never unfortunately. I only got to meet him once or twice really, and never ever got a chance to talk to him one-on-one about Youth for Yang except for a 1 minute transition period where he was entering a building.

What are the metrics on UBI including:

- Potential Tax increases

- Changes to Debt Ceiling

- Effect on the value of the dollar and prices of things?

How can the value of the dollar potentially change if everybody is getting $1k/month minimum

What incentives does somebody on UBI have to not abuse the system and have to go work

How much is Andrew Yang's whole economic plan outside of UBI expected to cost, and how much w/ UBI will it cost?

Giving Andrew Yang failed w/ Star Giving and all his other business fails, how can he be trusted on finances or economic opinions?

Unfortunately, I'm not an economist, so I can't exactly say the facts on these numbers, but I do think that Yang has had answers to these in the past on his campaign website (which has been taken down, unfortunately). I would recommend some googling though. Sorry I couldn't be of any help!

What was your favorite memory from being the National Youth Director?

One of my favorite memories is probably when we experienced the largest period of growth around November 2019, as we had a giant textbanking campaign to tell all our supporters that we had recently launched Youth for Yang! Our weekly youth volunteer calls grew drastically and it was truly an amazing experience to talk to these young people and help them make tangible change in the world!

Anything you wished you could've done better with the Youth For Yang program? Is there a chance for a return in 2024 possibly :p

I wish that the Yang campaign had given us some more support actually. We were hoping that we'd be able to integrate better, but alas, why would you listen to a high school student with no prior experience! (but come 2024, we will have experience, so hopefully we'll learn by then!)

Do you know whether Yang will run for NYC mayor? Can you convince him to, please? This city needs a really progressive restart. Pleeeeaaaaassssseeee.

Unfortunately, I don't know! I would like to see him run for president again in 2024 though!

Funniest moment on the campaign trail?

Well, the main time I was ever with Yang was on the New Years Eve party, and me and a NH staffer helped set up the area. We created the Yang rally sign wall that was there, and one of the funniest moments was taking it down and it was all stuck together. We mourned our "Yang wall".

What do you think is the best way to get brilliant, real people like Andrew Yang involved in the government?

I think the first step is to recognize those people. People that might be just as great as Yang might not be known yet. We need to find ways to help people get involved with politics in a professional manner and raise up those voices.

Hey, you’re the guy who signs the volunteer hours certificates for Yang2020!

Do you personally believe that Yang is going to end up running for NYC mayor in 2021?

Haha yeah, I signed volunteer hour certs for high school students. I'm not sure if he's going to run for mayor, and I don't know enough about the race to know if he's going to run or not.

What’s your opinion on both candidates and this election in general?

I don't have much thoughts on both candidates to be honest. I'd definitely support Biden over Trump personally, but not because I like Biden

Serious Question:

How much social influence do you think Saturday Night Live has on political candidates with the way they portray them. Considering SNL portrayed Yang as an entirely unimportant party boy, do you think young people just automatically believed he wasn't a serious candidate because SNL treated him as such?

I think SNL (and media networks in general) unfortunately have a very big impact on popular view. They treated Yang like he wasn't there (like many AAPI people are treated in general and in politics in particular), which rubbed off on the general populace. That was one of the most unfortunate parts of the campaign. Yang was also meme'd quite a lot, so while it was good for attracting some young people, he was often seen as a joke unfortunately. Campaigns can't control social media though...so it's really up to the trend at the time.

Do you belive it was the right media strategy for Yang to go on controversial podcasts/shows like the Rubin Report and Wasking up with Sam Harris? Do you belive this will come back and hurt him at a later point? Do you believe he is in danger of being cancelled?

Examples of Controversial Episodes of those shows/podcasts:

Rubin Report talks with Stefan Molyneux about Blacks having lower IQ than Whites

Sam Harris talks with Charles Murray about Race and IQ

I think it was smart to do so, but I think if he were to be cancelled for such a little thing such as talking to someone on extremist, there's a big problem. Cancel culture is NOT cool imo, and I think that we should try to talk to as many people as possible. If we can convince one extremist and bring them to support a candidate, that doesn't mean that the candidate is extremist. It means that the extremist has changed themselves to support the candidate. At least that's what I think.

How did you balance your school work and your campaign work? (Sounds like it would take a lot of time from you!)

I'm a solid student, so I actually didn't encounter that many problems. I basically worked on the campaign throughout the school day as well, but luckily our school is chill with phones. I did have to "go to the bathroom" for the occasional meeting haha!

Do you think a misperceived connection to China (yes, I know he's of Taiwanese descent) could have affected his campaign, given the current issues coming out of that region?

There certainly was that sort of idea that floated around. I do think that there was probably some misunderstanding and there's always the stereotype of an asian person who looks like he's from China obviously. Those sort of stereotypes might have hurt his chances.

Hey, thanks for doing an AMA in such a unique position and capacity! Given how influential the internet can be to the youth of today (ie. fake news and what not), I can only imagine the perception youths have of politics. Was this one of your challenges to attract youths into politics? If so, what were some the tactics employed to overcome them?

I think for me, one of my challenges was making it relevant to them. From what I've observed, our generation (Gen Z) is more likely to get involved when they're personally affected and they're passionate about it. The best tactics my team and I used were really just talking! We found it most effective to talk to other young people. Another key here though, is young people talking to young people. They don't want to listen to an adult lecture them on politics. They want to hear it from someone their age and make it personally relevant. Great question!

The number of elected offices in the United States runs into the hundreds of thousands. Andrew Yang had never held an elected public office at any level prior to his run for president. Not wanting to focus on any particular failings of the Yang campaign, I'd ask you as a young political organizer if you think today's youth should consider running for the school board or town council as a first step in their political careers?

I don't think that there is a particular "sequence" to getting into a political career. In fact, I'd strongly discourage laying out every single position you're going to run for up to the presidency (see Netflix's The Politician) I think they should run for whatever they want to run for, but as long as they are prepared for the time commitment and recognize what they truly want to do and most importantly: WHY. Why do you want to make changes? Why is this important to you? If the answer to these questions is "because it furthers my career", DO NOT RUN FOR OFFICE. If the answer to these questions is "because my community is in need" or "because I have been personally affected by injustice", then please run for office.

How do you feel about Biden’s sexual assault allegations, and his “creepy” behavior around women and young girls? Also how do you support a candidate that has a long history of cutting social security and Medicaid/care that affects minorities especially?

I only support Biden personally because I won't support Trump. The Democratic Party has made its choice, so unfortunately, we must wait until 2024.

How many comparisons to his name have you had and does it get old?

And as a serious question, how do you feel about how the debates went when Yang and many other less popular candidates were basically thrown to the back in favor of those like Biden, Sanders, and Warren?

Haha, I've had plenty. Many have asked me "is the only reason you worked for him because you had the same name?" For your serious question, I was very very annoyed. People like Yang were obviously tossed to the side. I'm sure you remember the #LetYangSpeak and MSNBC debacle...that was fun...

How do you respond to the accusation that Andrew Yang knew he had no chance of winning the presidency and merely used his volunteers as a tool to try to gain enough popularity for a longshot VP pick or a cabinet position? Would you apologize to those who feel used by Yang?

I haven't heard anything like that at all actually...I think Yang was genuine and actually wanted to make a difference. But I'm sorry for anyone who felt like that.

How much effort is put into engaging youth that aren’t of voting age yet?

It depends. If you're specifically asking how much effort I put, I put in as much as I can. I think it's very important to start it young and help other young people realize that their voice matters (and not just through social media!!) People need to have the idea to vote and volunteer for candidates even though they can't vote. (also, I'm a proponent of lowering the voting age to 16!)

I was kind of asking “industry-wide”, but I think your response indicates that there’s a variety of attitudes/approaches to the issue. Thanks for your time.

I think industry-wide, certainly not enough is put into engaging youth.

My son is 14. He is super intelligent but at an impressionable age and we live in rural TX. I feel like most of his friends and classmates feed him right wing sound bytes they have heard from their homes. Can you give me advice on how to talk to him about making his own decisions in politics? What are some good informative websites?

I think it's all about the independent decisions he makes. Encourage him to do his own research, not necessarily from specific websites, but all websites. Help him identify fake news and misleading information. Also, he should join the YACU (https://discord.yacu.org) and engage in political discussion with other young people! :)

I have a question on the yang policy, please:

What is the point in taking $12,000 from each citizen every year and giving them $1,000 a month?

Maybe most of the money for this UBI will come from rich people's taxes rather than poor people, but that just seems like we're going back to to our current welfare system.

Yang answered this on his policy pages (though they're currently down). You might be able to find an answer to this by Googling it. Sorry I'm not of much help!

In your opinion, if our country's primary and presidential elections were based on a Ranked Voting system rather than what we currently have where political candidates are often voted for purely on whether the media or other entity believes they can defeat the other side, would our current front runners look significantly different? ie, would Yang still be in the race? Would Sanders? And what of the republican side? Would we see someone besides Trump leading those polls right now? Or perhaps see some other parties emerge far more popular than the current typical political climate might assume?

I think that candidates that are more "out-of-the-box" and third parties would come to prevalence, and it would certainly be beneficial for a RCV election to occur. I do think our front-runners would look different.

Given that younger voters overwhelmingly agree with Bernie Sanders on policy and ideals, what drew you to Andrew Yang in contrast?

Yang drew me in contrast as a fresh breath of air. While Bernie claims to be "against the establishment", he's still a career politician. Yang was able to attract many other people by being more human. Not just being a traditional politician imo.

But what about lord voldemort 2020?

I don't know...

What's Andrew's reaction to the Asian community when many within our community say he's set back Asian-American progress back with him dismissing Asian identities?

I can't speak for Andrew myself, but I think I looked to up to Andrew as a young Asian American in politics, and while I wasn't able to read the WaPo oped (paywall!), I'm not sure about how he's set back Asian American progress...

Why capitalist accelerationism?

Well, it looks like we didn't even need to accelerate anything to make Yang's ideas more relevant. COVID-19 has basically made Yang's ideas more relevant than ever.

Why do you think Bernie Sanders was not able to reach low-propensity youth voters to get them out to vote, given his previous momentum from 2016 and overwhelming policy support?

Bernie's movement in my opinion has shifted from supporting the movement to more of a cult of personality behind Bernie. Bernie supporters online at least have alienated other supporters this year, which is why many candidates ended up throwing their support behind Biden regardless.

As a fellow rising senior, I commend you on your activism in politics! It’s really inspiring to see others my age so engaged. My question for you is how did you balance such a pivotal campaign with the normalities of a high schooler lifestyle? Sometimes, for me at least, it seems as though the days aren’t long enough to fulfill all my responsibilities LOL

Haha thanks man! I think I was able to balance it because I was pretty stable academically, so I was able to work on the campaign throughout without losing my high school "experience". It's all about balance though, so some might not be able to balance it, or some might be able to put more in than I did and still have a healthy balance. It's up to the individual really.

I am consider myself yang gang despite not being on board with ubi due to the fact that yang is geniunley the only politician I have ever enjoyed listening speak and I really value his opinion.

Would you guys be willing to have paul krugman on as a guest to debate ubi with yang?

Also, some other awesome potential guests could be sebastian junger, jeremy scahill, Elizabeth warren, ezra klein, bryan stevenson, etc. could you guys set up some sort of forum(maybe on reddit) to request guests?

Thank you!

Unfortunately, I don't have that much access to Yang, but I'm sure somewhere a Humanity Forward staffer is reading this and will pass your info along to Yang!

Why on god's green earth (just using the idiom, I'm an atheist), did Yang spray another man with whipped cream?

The best part of that video is the look of his (I'm assuming) campaign manager dying inside knowing this is the end.

Apparently, it's a NH thing. I'm from MA, so don't ask me why!

How do you feel about defunding the police?

I think the phrase has been taken severely out of context by both sides. Personally, I feel that the police system needs a reset and we need to fix institutionalized racism in this country, but I do feel we need at least some sort of law enforcement.

Should I take down my Yang yard sign yet?

Don't take it down if you don't want to!

does your username imply that you will be running for president in the year 2104?

Haha, no, it's just my birthyear, 2004.

How come Yang didn't do an AMA?

I believe Yang actually did several AMAs throughout the course of his campaign. They were held on r/YangForPresidentHQ though, and probably crossposted to here.

How do you see youth engagement in the BLM movement translating to the election?

I actually don't think it'll translate to this particular election. Both Biden and Trump haven't done a great job of capturing the youth momentum of the BLM movement so far, and unless one of them suddenly captures that momentum, only then will it translate.

Why did Yang endorse Biden?

I answered a similar question, but basically because he was clearly the nominee after Super Tuesday in my opinion. Bernie was already quickly declining.

The youth are very engaged in political knowledge and seem to be very active in social media. However, when it comes time to vote they are absent. With addition to top down solutions like a voting holiday or mail in ballots, what can be said to the youths so they actually convert their facebook likes to actual votes in ballots?

I answered this question somewhere above, but basically, it's because no candidate has been able to fully attract and engage them to go vote. It's a vicious cycle of politicians don't care about youth votes, youth don't vote, then politicians still don't care. We need a candidate that can break that cycle.

Hi Andrew me too I am a director here in Canada. I have been working with the youth since 1999 check my work at familyfungames.ca . I work with a team and we sell our merchandise to fund our projects. We don’t receive government grants simply because I am black operated organization. It’s a struggle when your government doesn’t support innovation especially in the youth. The youth are the leaders of tomorrow. Do you face the same issues with discrimination?

Looks like you guys do great work! It's definitely unfortunate that your government doesn't give your group support. While my organization (https://yacu.org) hasn't faced that sort of discrimination as a whole, I know that individually, as an Asian American, I have definitely had racist comments directed at me before.

I am really fan of idea of UBI plan. recent presence in Freakonomics episode was more insight. Still wondered how does data look like from initial trial ??? Just curious and Thanks.

Hi, I'm actually not Andrew Yang, but I was a staffer on his campaign that happened to have the same name and also a four letter last name. I don't have any info on Yang's UBI trials, but I would encourage some googling maybe!

Year 11 student from over the pond here in the UK (equivalent to sophomore I think) and how can I get involved? I think what you're doing is great!

While the YACU is technically American based, you can definitely still join us on our Discord server: https://discord.yacu.org. We'd love for you to join us for some events!

What's your opinion on the voting age? Do you think it would be easier to get young people involved in politics more consistently if they were able to be involved earlier?

I'm a big supporter of lowering the voting age to 16 as it will hopefully help to create a sense of relevancy to young people, and help promote the idea of civics education and importance.

What about a maximum voting age? I’m 30, I don’t think my father is putting enough thought into any long term goals other than keeping things the way they’ve been, and I’m sure I’m not alone. It’s easy to roll the dice on climate change when you’re not going to be around to suffer the effects.

Personally, I'm not so sure about a maximum voting age, but I think it's more about placing emphasis on voting from a young age, which is why I support lowering the voting age to 16 instead.

Why 16, why not 12?

Well 16 is the common push (https://vote16usa.org) right now, but it really depends. It's a slippery slope to start going towards 12, but I think 16 is a good medium as when young people become older and mature, but are still in the household.

Why did the only good candidate drop out? We all know the system is broken and rigged as fuck. We have an orange idiot and a child touched running for office with terrible polling numbers.

Welp. Blame it on Iowa honestly. Yang just didn't hit the momentum he needed, unfortunately.

What actions are you taking to help us ensure Trump isn't re-elected?

For me personally, I've actually been staying out of the rest of the election and focusing on building a youth network of unity and bipartisanship so that we can help young people make more informed decisions and have independent though come 2024. Check it out at https://yacu.org

What are the chances that the US will have a POC president within this decade?

If you're talking about this decade, I think it's somewhat unlikely, but it depends on who wins the election this year. If Trump wins 2020, it is definitely likely that in 2024, Democrats will choose a POC (hopefully Yang!!). However, if Biden wins in 2020, dependent on his health, he will either run again in 2024, or it will switch back to republicans in 2024 (which may/may not have a POC candidate to choose. who knows?)

Why should we have government as opposed to not?

I'm more of a libertarian myself, but I do think we need at least a government. I think that we shouldn't have a government that controls everything, but it should be able to help maintain the peace but also represent the people.