Source: Andrew Malone (https://www.flickr.com/people/andrewmalone/)
When I started this blog, I said I might write about baseball. It’s even in the tagline: Wherein an Iowan writes about leftist politics, philosophy, and maybe baseball. The World Series is over, and late October is a great time for baseball. So, let’s talk about baseball. How about Curt Schilling?
Well, what about Curt Schilling?
Schilling played for the Baltimore Orioles, Houston Astros, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Boston Red Sox. He retired after the 2007 season at age 40. And since then, there’s been a raging debate in baseball circles over whether Schilling should be inducted into the Hall of Fame.
President Barack Obama meets with Champions of Change alumni in the Map Room of the White House, April 26, 2012. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)
Andrew Yang is running for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020.
Andrew Yang is not going to win the Democratic nomination for president in 2020.
I guess I could leave it at that. But that’s no fun. Yang is drawing some media attention because he’s a Silicon Valley (note: “entrepreneurial/tech/startup industry”) guy who has too much time and money. And so he’s visiting the early caucus and primary states.
Yang’s background is in tech, as I noted. He was most recently the CEO of Venture for America, which connects young people with venture capitalists. Sometimes with sexy results. Previously he was a CEO in the standardized test prep industry.
But, you know, enough about Andrew Yang for now. I want to talk about his platform. His single issue platform. Because his single issue is universal basic income, the topic of my previous post.
Yang really loves UBI, and his proposal is rather detailed. He’s running as a Democrat, and he’s claiming some generic leftist cred. But, as any good tech utopian, Yang is running in the ‘post-ideological‘ lane.
As with everyone else, Yang has gotten around to writing a book. It’s about UBI, and it’s called The War on Normal People.
I’m going to evaluate Yang’s UBI proposal by the standards I laid out for a good leftist universal basic income. Is Yang’s proposal universal? Is it basic? Finally, is it feasible as a leftist plan?
Source: Ron Mader. https://www.flickr.com/photos/planeta/30873329263
Universal Basic Income (UBI) is a curious idea with a curious history. It enjoys strong support from some parts of the political right, some parts of the political left, and a fair share of the tech sector (the ‘Silicon Valley‘ crowd). It’s entering the mainstream from multiple directions.
On the center-left, Guy Standing advocates for it. He’s best known for his 2011 book The Precariat: The New Dangerous Class. For Standing, a universal basic income is the best way to bring stability to the lives of temporary and/or part-time workers.
Source: James Mallos (https://www.flickr.com/photos/james_mallos/15467214887)
Leftists and liberals love arguing about how to vote, whether they admit it or not. Pragmatic issues are central to these debates. They enter through the front or rear door, but they’re there.
Note: The photograph at the top of this site's home page is used under a Creative Commons license. The photograph on the About page is the work of Francisco Anzola. This blog uses affiliate marketing links in some posts.
