(noun) 1. the berrylike fruit of either of two African shrubs that, when chewed, causes sour substances to taste sweet. 2. an old-fashioned blog started in 2008 that celebrates world travel and the adventure of life. (This is what blogs looked like in 2008, and it hasn't changed since.)
Here are some photos of our train ride and life in Hualien so far. :-)
We rode in the family car, which was AWESOME! Only four rows of three seats in the whole car (!) and a huge open space with kid tables and a nursing room.
Leaving Taipei:
Getting close to Hualien:
Surprise! Didn't know there would be huge mountains in Hualien-- this is in the taxi leaving the train station:
And exploring Hualien:
We're on the 4th floor of a walk-up, and we're smack in the middle of everything, so we can pretty much walk anywhere within 15 minutes. :-) Here's our living room:
We're almost unpacked and settled. Hope you're all well! :-)
"Artists must create on the same scale that society has the capacity to destroy.
There’s a reason you have to get out of your head, stop doubting your worth and value all the time and just share your art.
Just be an artist. Your art is not yours to hoard. It is your responsibility to share it. That’s why it was given to you, to share it.
Because YOU are the balance. In fact, you tip the scales in the direction of this life being enjoyable, being beautiful, being worth living.
You restore hope to the hopeless.
You bring joy to the dying.
You bring laughter to the suffering.
You bring love to the lonely.
You bring compassion to the selfish.
You help humanity feel, reflect, and connect. You put people in touch with their own souls, so they can feel their own humanity.
You as artists tip the scales.
So you MUST share your art, without hesitation, because it’s who you are, because it’s what you were shaped to do, because it’s your destiny to fulfill."
Day 5! Woo hoo! 1/3 of the way through our 15-day Taipei quarantine! (They start counting at midnight the day you arrive, so "two weeks" is often more like 15 days, depending on what time of day you arrive.) Here's my brain dump (long message ahead!) in case some of it might be helpful-- especially for those quarantining with kids!
Also, after waiting three months to get to Taiwan, I think I might be the most excited to finally "get" to quarantine after all.
So, it took us 2 hours to get out of the airport, but we knew what to expect, so it was fine. Got the SIM cards, did the health declarations, made sure that we had no meat (very thorough search! They even had me crack our two hard-boiled eggs to make sure they were cooked! We would have been fined had they not been!), went through immigration, get our saliva COVID tests outside, got sprayed with a mist of alcohol (purchased these plastic suitcase protectors, but don't think they were necessary-- and it was nice to be sprayed on a hot day), and then (thanks to the Quarantine Support in Taiwan facebook group!) we told them we wanted a big van taxi and only waited a few minutes for a van to show up that fit our luggage (2 big, 2 medium, 2 small, plus several bags/odds/ends) and us (two adults and two kids across three seats). Super nice to be able to go all together and pay 1000NT (instead of 2000NT to go separately).
We didn't get cash at the airport because my debit card was buried (oops), but we paid for everything with my Chase Visa, and it was all super smooth. We've been at the Aloft, and the food has generally been great. (Maybe too good? My other post on gaining/losing/maintaining weight on the quarantine fb group showed the consensus was that most gained weight during quarantine!)
Also, by not being able to come in July as originally planned, we now have two adjoining rooms, which has been great. If we'd been here in August as was the plan the 2nd or 3rd time we were scheduled to come to Taiwan, my husband and I would have celebrated our wedding anniversary over zoom from separate hotel rooms! Needless to say, this is WAY better.
The room I picked (the cheaper option with city view vs. plains view, bento vs. a la carte) is 3600NT/night, and the additional child per room is another 1500NT/night. Funny enough, the person who initially told me this mistyped that it was an additional 15000/night, and I nearly lost it! Ha! But it got cleared up, so while not cheap, it wasn't as expensive as it could have been.
My officer calls every day, and we talk for about 12 seconds. He asks if we're fine, I say yes, and that's it. My partner gets texted every day (maybe because he's an English speaker, and after calling the first day and talking with me, they just texted him after that-- ha!), and it's the same easy procedure where he texts that he's fine.
We ordered groceries through Carrefour (fruit, milk, sponges, mouthwash), and it was a breeze.
All in all, quarantine's been going great. Whoever said it was more or less like your normal life (without putting shoes on or going outside) was totally right.
We brought some workbooks, activity books, etc. for the kids, and they've been fine. We also used empty water bottles for bowling, and that was a hit with both kids.
We listen to Harry Potter (audiobook), let the kids watch some cartoons in Chinese (about 1/2 hour a day), and honestly, the meals and afternoon tea break up the day (and are so exciting! Who knows what will come next?!), so the kids are generally happy. We put trash out between 330-4pm, and it all goes smoothly. The highlight of each day seems to be the doorbell and polite little knock at 8am, 12pm, 230pm (tea), and 6pm.
Today, we got French toast for breakfast. Yesterday, we got dim sum where this bun that looked just like a real portobello mushroom was actually a sesame dessert bun. It even had a little white stem!
WHAT?! During quarantine? Let's just say the food has been a pleasant surprise. I'd seen an aloft video posted online, and I thought we'd be having rice congee soup for breakfast every morning and some rendition of meat/rice/veggies in a bento box for every meal. Instead, we had a delicious (slightly spicy, even!) Thai curry last night, Japanese sushi rice bento the night before, spaghetti the night before that...
We've started doing what we call our "bento adventure," and it has literally saved me from the suffering parents endure from kids during mealtime. Instead of grimacing/pouting/cowering away from the table, my formerly picky 6-year-old will now try something from each compartment of our bento box and give us one word to describe it (anything from taste to texture to whatever!), and it's been a total game-changer. I will forever be grateful to quarantine for this new way of eating together as a family. (Then, after a successful bento adventure, we can listen to more Harry Potter.)
We're also doing gonoodle videos (meatball and not dog time machine are our favorites-- they're basically these silly videos of walking and "dodging"/jumping over obstacles, so super kid-friendly!) and Cosmic Kids yoga to "stay active" (as much as is possible), and sometimes, we do yoga or walk around while listening to Harry Potter. Just change directions every time someone says "Harry," and it feels like a fun game.
(Oh, and we have the Harry Potter movie collection, so when we finish listening to book 7, we'll start watching the movies.)
OH! And I forgot what might be the most useful thing! We put two ironing boards together to make a "dining area" with two desk chairs and two stools, so we have a place to eat together, and this has worked great for us. (I threw a sarong over it as a tablecloth and to keep the ironing boards clean.)
TLDR: I'm pleasantly surprised to say quarantine has been MUCH better than expected, so I'd be happy to help anyone else if I can! Let me know if I can answer any questions for you!
Greetings from Guam! It took us a while to get settled, but we're finally feeling like locals and ready to reach out to our favorite people to give you a quick update. :-)
(Quick backstory: we were supposed to move to Taiwan for my partner's sabbatical this school year (so the girls could learn Chinese), but they had their first COVID outbreak in May (after zero cases April-December 2020), closed the border, and kept extending the travel ban every two weeks, so after renting out our house, then packing and preparing to move three times in July and road tripping around California for a month (thank you to the friends and family who took us in while we were homeless!), we decided to move to Guam while waiting for Taiwan to reopen because it had an 80% vaccination rate, no quarantine requirement for vaccinated people, was American and thus easy travel, and had a Taiwanese consulate.)
So, the good news: life in Guam has been great! We're renting a beachfront condo with a pool and small playground in the backyard, and we've enjoyed snorkeling and kayaking in the shallow, peaceful lagoons in front of our condo and around the island.
And for those wondering about life in Guam:
The island (population: ~170,000 people) is about 30 miles long and 4-8 miles wide, so we rented a car for a week to explore and discovered we could drive to the northern or southern tip of the island from where we are (in the middle) in just about half an hour of driving-- but there was still quite a bit of interesting history here. Magellan sailing on behalf of Spain landed here with three ships in 1521. We also visited a World War II site that was really powerful. Japan attacked Guam right after Pearl Harbor, and the entire island was a war zone for years. Now, Guam is officially American, but the locals can't vote in our presidential elections.
Guam feels American in that there are chains like Domino's and Winchell's Donuts around, but there are zero Starbucks, tropical island life is definitely slower paced, and most people are Chamorro/Pacific Islander/Asian. Almost everything is imported, so a half-gallon of non-organic milk is $6 instead of the $3 we paid for organic at Trader Joe's, and gas is a bit more than Bay Area prices (around $4.70/gallon), but the quality is also generally lower. The Quaker Oats are marked "export" and have stray husks that you don't find when you buy them in bulk at Costco on the mainland, and you see many of the generic brands from the mainland at double the prices (Kirkland frozen strawberries were $18 compared to the $9 we usually paid for three pounds). We're not quite sure how it all scales because other things like eating out are comparable to California prices, so labor is somehow cheaper even though everything is more expensive.
There is a naval military base in the south and an Air Force base in the north, and both are closed to civilians, which is a bummer because there are supposed to be some really beautiful places to visit on both, plus they have their own schools, gas stations (a dollar cheaper per gallon), grocery stores, etc. They are like small self-contained worlds that are closed to the locals.
Despite the island's small size (relative to California), we are pretty much the only weirdos actually walking around. Everyone drives, and there is no public transportation unless you're disabled, which blows our minds. While exploring the island both by car and on foot, we've seen maybe five other pedestrians, and 2-3 of them were probably homeless. (But unlike California, they were the only homeless we've seen-- and maybe they're not even actually homeless.)
We had two full weeks of the girls going to school here: they wore their cute little uniforms, learned Chamorro language/history/folklore (a nice surprise), took the bus to and from school, and were fed breakfast and lunch.
And then, the not-so-good news: even with an 80% vaccination rate for 12+ year olds on the island, Guam had a surge in COVID cases and closed all schools starting yesterday and are reverting back to online learning starting next week. So, the girls have an extra week of vacation, and my partner and I return to not exercising or getting our own work done. :-D
How are you doing? It's been such a strange year and a half! We hope this message finds you and your loved ones well, and we'd love to hear from you soon! :-)
What a saga it's been trying to get to Taiwan! It took us six months to get a visa for my husband, and after zero cases from April to December 2020, the island had its first outbreak about a month before we were scheduled to move there. We booked our flight for July 5th so we could celebrate our daughter's birthday and the 4th of July with friends and family before leaving, and everything seemed great.
Then, three China Airlines pilots brought COVID to Taipei without quarantining properly, so Taiwan shut schools and businesses down for the first time. The travel ban was scheduled to end June 28th, so we figured we'd be okay for July 5th. Nope!
The travel ban was extended to July 12th, so we changed our flight and notified our very kind landlord who has a furnished apartment waiting for us. We got a new flight for July 15th and were relieved to see cases drop quickly. Our plan was to quarantine for two weeks in our flat because it had two bathrooms (one per adult) (Taiwan's rules, not mine), BUT then the "Peruvian grandma" (a Taiwanese woman's nickname because she returned from Peru with a grandchild and brought the Delta variant to Taiwan while breaking her home quarantine) caused the Taiwanese government to cancel home quarantines/require hotel or facility quarantines and ruined it for all future travelers.
So, we were prepared to fly on Wednesday night around 1am, go to two separate hotel rooms because we're two adults (each with one child), and then do our 14-day quarantine where we would be delivered three meals a day-- and not be allowed to leave our rooms. But THEN, they extended the travel ban again, so now we've rented our house out, have a flat waiting for us halfway around the world, and can't go live there.
So, we spent hours calling the airlines and hotels again today, changing everything to fly July 28th, and now, to top it all off, we'll be celebrating our 13th wedding anniversary separately in two hotel rooms while quarantining.
I know these are all first-world problems, and maybe when we finally get to celebrate in person, it'll be sweeter because we'll miss each other more. :-)
So! Here's to looking on the bright side of things...
Hollaback's now Right To Be, but either way, their Bystander Intervention Training is empowering and informative not just for people who want to support our fellow Asians who have been harassed— this is a training that will enable you to help anyone being bullied in any way while staying safe yourself.
PBS is currently streaming (for free) this powerful film on the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and like most of us, I had no idea this was a part of American history. It's heartbreaking that the Chinese were singled out as the only group in American history to be excluded from immigration while millions were streaming in from the rest of the world and how the Chinese were treated when they did try to settle here, and it's a part of our history that should not be forgotten.
Just when we thought today couldn't possibly have been any better, Amanda Gorman took the stage, blew us all away, and inspired us all.
“The Hill We Climb”
Amanda Gorman
When day comes we ask ourselves, where can we find light in this never-ending shade? The loss we carry, a sea we must wade. We’ve braved the belly of the beast, we’ve learned that quiet isn’t always peace and the norms and notions of what just is, isn’t always justice. And yet the dawn is ours before we knew it, somehow we do it, somehow we’ve weathered and witnessed a nation that isn’t broken but simply unfinished.
We, the successors of a country and a time where a skinny black girl descended from slaves and raised by a single mother can dream of becoming president only to find herself reciting for one. And, yes, we are far from polished, far from pristine, but that doesn’t mean we are striving to form a union that is perfect, we are striving to forge a union with purpose, to compose a country committed to all cultures, colors, characters and conditions of man.
So we lift our gazes not to what stands between us, but what stands before us. We close the divide because we know to put our future first, we must first put our differences aside. We lay down our arms so we can reach out our arms to one another, we seek harm to none and harmony for all.
Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true: that even as we grieved, we grew, even as we hurt, we hoped, that even as we tired, we tried, that we’ll forever be tied together victorious, not because we will never again know defeat but because we will never again sow division.
Scripture tells us to envision that everyone shall sit under their own vine and fig tree and no one should make them afraid. If we’re to live up to our own time, then victory won’t lie in the blade, but in in all of the bridges we’ve made.
That is the promise to glade, the hill we climb if only we dare it because being American is more than a pride we inherit, it’s the past we step into and how we repair it. We’ve seen a force that would shatter our nation rather than share it. That would destroy our country if it meant delaying democracy, and this effort very nearly succeeded. But while democracy can periodically be delayed, but it can never be permanently defeated.
In this truth, in this faith, we trust, for while we have our eyes on the future, history has its eyes on us, this is the era of just redemption we feared in its inception we did not feel prepared to be the heirs of such a terrifying hour but within it we found the power to author a new chapter, to offer hope and laughter to ourselves, so while once we asked how can we possibly prevail over catastrophe, now we assert how could catastrophe possibly prevail over us.
We will not march back to what was but move to what shall be, a country that is bruised but whole, benevolent but bold, fierce and free, we will not be turned around or interrupted by intimidation because we know our inaction and inertia will be the inheritance of the next generation, our blunders become their burden. But one thing is certain: if we merge mercy with might and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and change our children’s birthright.
So let us leave behind a country better than the one we were left, with every breath from my bronze, pounded chest, we will raise this wounded world into a wondrous one, we will rise from the golden hills of the West, we will rise from the windswept Northeast where our forefathers first realized revolution, we will rise from the lake-rimmed cities of the Midwestern states, we will rise from the sunbaked South, we will rebuild, reconcile, and recover in every known nook of our nation in every corner called our country our people diverse and beautiful will emerge battered and beautiful, when the day comes we step out of the shade aflame and unafraid, the new dawn blooms as we free it, for there is always light if only we’re brave enough to see it, if only we’re brave enough to be it.
So, one of my favorite things to order at one of my favorite restaurants in the world is the cucumber salad at Din Tai Fung, but many of the recipes I've seen online require brining the cucumber and then waiting and rinsing it, and who's got time for that?
So, here's an easier recipe that tastes just as good (to me) without all of the waiting or extra steps.
lazy din tai fung cucumber salad recipe
a super easy yet flavorful starter or side dish
prep time: 2-5 minutes (depends on how long it takes you to chop up your cucumber) :-)
serves 4 ingredients
about 2 c cucumber, sliced (~1 English cucumber or ~8 Persian cucumbers)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar (or equivalent)
3 tsp/1 tbsp rice vinegar
4 fresh cloves or 2 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp sesame oil and/or chili oil (optional)
sesame seeds (optional)
directions
1. slice cucumber into thin pieces (we like lots of small pieces for more dressing in each bite)
2. sprinkle salt over cucumber and stir to combine
3. add in sugar, rice vinegar, garlic, and oil(s) and stir well
4. sprinkle sesame on top to make it look pretty :-)
5. enjoy!
We had teriyaki salmon and tofu, and this cucumber salad was the perfect side. (Ooh! And we had the leftover salmon and tofu in tacos the next day, and they were great with a new batch of cucumber salad as Asian tacos, too!)
Even our 4-year-old gobbled it up (after declaring she would not eat any cucumbers). I'll call that a win! :-)
My friend, Vernie, used to always say what our overpopulated world really needs is a new plague that can indiscriminately take out a big chunk of the world's population, and while the coronavirus isn't that, I do think there is a silver lining to this cloud.
Obviously, I don't want innocent people dying or even feeling sick. I don't want to see people I love freaking out and buying hazmat suits because they're so scared of what could happen. My heart goes out to the people who are really stressed about schools closing and wondering how their kids who depend on the free lunches are going to eat— not to mention how they're going to work and make sure their family is both safe and also that all of the bills will be paid.
And yes, it's stressful to go shopping and find that Costco is out of toilet paper and Trader Joe's is out of eggs, and you end up buying a case of bottled water even though your fridge has water because everyone else has carts filled with them. The stress is palpable and heavy, spiking and charging the very air we share, everywhere we go now.
It's hard to wrap our heads around all of the schools being closed and basically everything "normal" being canceled. My daughters' school will be closed for at least a month. My husband's work has given everyone two weeks off for spring break, and everything will happen remotely the two weeks after that. So, that's a month for him to be home, too.
This weekend, my daughter didn't attend Girl Scouts or a birthday pool party. My husband and I skipped a wine tasting party, and I was going to miss my acting class— until it was canceled.
We're canceling our spring break trip to Mexico to explore ruins with cousins and siblings. We're canceling our summer plans to go to Taiwan so my daughters can learn Chinese. I love travel and am sad to let those adventures go, but I also recognize how lucky I am to be "stuck" somewhere pretty nice and continue to strive to find the bright side of all this.
So, as we grapple to find our new normal, here is something to consider.
What if the world's problem is not coronavirus? What if our collective ailment is our competitive go-go-go mentality that has left everyone feeling increasingly isolated and stressed? What if the coronavirus and our now enforced quarantine is the solution?
I know this will not be a popular opinion, but I think maybe staying home and slowing down is just what we all need.
Maybe we were so pigheaded about going forward forward forward (or what we perceived to be forward), unable to even consider slowing down, that it took something as crazy as COVID-19 to literally knock the wind out of us, grabbing both of our arms and stapling us to the floor, to force us to snap out of our whirlwind lives and STOP for a second to look around and consider our lives.
I can imagine someone rising from the dust of being thrown to the ground, shaking their head in a daze as they look around, like Dorothy waking up in Oz. Except this is our real life that we maybe allowed to go on autopilot for too long.
How did I get here? Is this the life I want? Am I giving the world all that I can? Am I on the path that best serves me and my family? Am I pushing myself in the best ways-- growing, contributing, leaving a lasting positive impact on our collective world?
Maybe the coronavirus is actually a wake-up call to live our lives more fully.
If you're an adult, is this the grown-up life you'd dreamed of living when you were a kid?
If you're a parent, I can imagine the dazed head shaking and saying, "Wow, my daughter/son is how old now?" It can almost bring me to tears when I think of my young children— weren't they just babies a second ago? Where has the time gone? Have I done enough and loved them enough as a mama? What if the rest of their childhood passes in a blur, and I miss it? I can't let that happen!
If you're an even more mature adult, have you used your decades on this planet to serve humanity, gather wisdom, and share love and kindness to all? (Because you know, all people are supposed to have done that by the time they're old, right?)
We have more control than we think, and we can all live lives that we want. It's not just a luxury for the ultra rich (who I have not perceived to be happier or more free).
Within our mundane everyday lives, we can find sparkling moments of joy and love and connection and meaning, but we have to create the space and time for them— and many of us don't seem to have even a nanosecond to stop and breathe. (Hi, parents of young children! Hi, entrepreneurs giving our sweat and blood to nothing more than an idea! Hi, caretakers devoting yourselves to someone else's every day quality of life! And everyone who is giving their all to the struggle that is everyday life! I see you!)
Enter: CORONAVIRUS.
Now, even the world's #1 workaholic has an excuse to just sit down for a second and look around. And that's a form of grace and forgiveness. We all get a break.
So, while not glamorous or exciting, my family is doing a deeper cleaning/organizing of our house today-- something we never have time for. All those random doodads (my girls' "art supplies") that have been stashed here and there are now going to be given proper homes or discarded.
We've been looking at recipes we've been meaning to try but haven't had time for.
My 4-year-old says we should snuggle and read stories all day, and for the first time, it's an idea that we could actually consider.
Of course, we haven't even gotten to day 1 of a month of no school, so ask me how I'm feeling again in a couple days, and I might be ready to drop kick my fighting, complaining kids to outer space, but in the meantime, I'm going to try to find my place of peace and love. And remember to be grateful that for whatever unfathomable reason it might be, I'm given a little extra space to breathe right now.
There's something beautiful in stopping and looking around every once in a while, and I'll try to make the most of it.
The top four winners of last night’s debate, according to Google searches and the number of tweets about each candidate, were Bernie Sanders, followed by Joe Biden, Elizabeth Warren, and then Andrew Yang. Ironically, Yang wasn’t even on the debate stage.
To read the full Washington Examiner article, click here.
Andrew Yang, a Democratic candidate for President, is making waves as the first candidate to formulate his policies based on data and research, instead of ideology.
He is a decent family man and a patriot, not a politician — who wants a better future for his kids.
Yang believes in “human-centered capitalism”. He cannot be easily classified into a traditional category such as liberal, libertarian, conservative, or leftist. In fact, his two slogans are “Not left, not right but forward” and “Humanity first”.
But should you vote for him in the Democratic primaries? Here are 12 reasons why you should:
1. He is the candidate most likely to beat Donald Trump
Study was done using data from Economist polling data
The candidate most likely to defeat Donald Trump will attract the highest number of voters who voted for Trump in 2016. Although Andrew Yang does not like to talk about Trump and would rather focus on issues and solutions, based on polling data Yang is the best choice to beat him in the general election.
In this analysis of weekly polling data from the highly regarded Economist / Yougov polls, an independent data scientist calculated which candidate would most likely beat Trump. Yang is at the top of the list because of his strength with both former Trump voters (12%) and disaffected voters (53%), both higher than any other Democratic candidate.
This matches up with anecdotal evidence that I’ve seen. When I ask Republicans if there are any Democrats they would vote for, the most common answer I hear is Andrew Yang. Yes, many Republicans won’t vote for a Democrat, but the ones that would vote for Yang give reasons ranging from Yang caring about the working class and not playing identity politics to not bashing Trump voters. Well known conservatives Tucker Carlson and Ben Shapiro are fans of Andrew Yang.
2. Innovative Health Care Plan
Universal Basic Health Care lowers costs for everyone, keeps private insurance
When forming his healthcare plan, Yang was careful to examine the policies of dozens of different countries to see what works and what doesn’t. He also is laser focused on fixing the fundamental issues of why our costs are so much higher than other countries
Some aspects of the plan are modeled after the Taiwan health care system, which is rated the number one health care system in the world. Co-pays are low, premiums are income based and are free for the poorest in the country. There is a strong emphasis on reducing drug prices. This plan is offered to everyone, but people can supplement the plans privately. Yang is also the only candidate that has explained in detail how he would lower costs — for example, by using international reference pricing for drugs.
Only Yang has put together a five-pronged climate change plan that A) gets us carbon neutral to slow down the rate of climate change, B) ends the influence of lobbyists and oil executives, C) addresses how to deal with climate change refugees, D) has a plan to explore new technologies that reverse the effects of climate change that has already happened, and E) puts us at the center of a new global sustainable energy sector. His entire plan is here.
Yang has also made it a top priority to influence other countries like China and India do their fair share, as the USA is only 15% of global emissions and cannot slow climate change on its own. Since China is actively exporting coal-based power solutions to foreign countries, Yang will have the USA take the lead in offering environmentally friendly alternatives at better prices.
4. The leader in fighting corporate influence in politics
For many voters, reducing the influence of lobbyists and corporations in politics is their number one concern. Yang, with an A+ rating, is rated #1 for democracy reform by equal citizens. Equal Citizens is respected by all and is considered the gold independent standard for rating candidates in this area. View his rating here.
From EqualCitizens.us
The reason for his A+ rating is his flagship policy, Democracy dollars, which gives every US citizen $100 annually to donate to the political campaigns of their choice. This would total a figure 20 times greater than the amount of money being injected by corporate interests. It would effectively wash out corporate and lobbyist money in politics without having to do the nearly impossible task of overturning Citizens Unitedsupreme court case. This policy is considered groundbreaking, and many other Democratic candidates are adopting some form of it.
Yang and many others firmly believe that without solving the problem of corporate and lobbyist influence, passing laws that benefit the entire country will be exceedingly difficult, hence this will be one of his top priorities.
5. Yang is laser-focused on solving the problems of the working class
He wrote a book on it
When you ask people why they are voting for Yang, many of them say it was after reading his NYTimes best-seller book, “The War on Normal People”. (No, I’m not trying to sell the book). In the book, Yang talks about how automation, software, technology and artificial intelligence is rapidly changing the economy and how it is starting to affect the labor market. He explains exactly why Trump was elected, how some of Trump’s solutions to the problems are misguided, e.g. getting rid of all immigrants, and what the real solutions are. Even many of the other presidential candidates like Warren are reading Yang’s book.
To summarize, Yang uses data to demonstrate it wasn’t immigrants, or just trade policy, but artificial intelligence, software, robotics and automation that displaced ten million manufacturing jobs in the midwest. Yang shows there is a direct correlation between these job losses and the states voting for Trump. Yang shows us how some worker retraining programs are misguided as they have high failure rates — not everyone can or should become a coder. Instead, we need a new social contract. We need to take steps to prepare ourselves for a new type of economy that is rapidly forming, one with very few jobs for “normal” people.
6. More complete set of policies than any other candidate
Policies like owning your own data and ending predatory loaning
With over 160 robust policies on his website, Yang has mapped out what he would do as President in much greater detail than any other candidate. Yang has thought through his plans carefully through to their execution. This level of transparency is unheard of in politics, and many voters list his transparency as one of the reasons they are voting for him.
Data as a property right is an example of an innovative policies that the general public is rallying around. Our most personal data is being collected, sold and abused; Yang is committed to putting a stop to this.
7. Yang’s Universal Basic Income would instantly end poverty
Yang points to studies that show people would not stop working with UBI. And it takes the boot off people’s throats.
One of Yang’s flagship policies, a Universal Basic Income (UBI) of $1,000 a month for all US citizens over 18, would instantly end poverty in this country It would also allow families to spend more time with their kids, and helps people avoid exploitative relationships, and would completely revitalize the economies in small towns. It would improve mental health levels, allow people to start small businesses, and it would allow senior citizens to retire with dignity.
Yang’s UBI plan is endorsed by top economists, and paid for by a tax on the winners of the 21st-century economy, like Google, Amazon and Facebook.
In Alaska, residents get an oil dividend check every year because the Oil industry does so well. Yang’s UBI, which he calls the Freedom Dividend, is basically a tech check for being a shareholder in the richest economy on the planet.
Yang concluded that UBI was essential in this country, because of the rapid devaluation of the labor market. Yang mentions 4 main reasons we need UBI — the rapid rise of software, technology, artificial intelligence replacing jobs which is due to accelerate in the next 5 years, the change to a winner-take-all economy, the fact that 90% of new jobs are low-paying gig or contract jobs, and a study that shows 85% of all Americans live paycheck to paycheck at some point in the year.
Yang often points voters to numerous studies on UBI that shows that people on UBI continue to work at the same rate, except for two groups: women who stay at home to take care of their kids, and teenagers who stayed in school longer. It would also grow the economy by 12%.
Critics wonder if UBI would just push up prices all around, but economists generally agree that would not happen because of price competition, except possibly to some degree in the housing market. Yang has pledged that any passage of UBI would include policies to deal with rising housing prices.
8. A Candidate that best understands the true problems of the 21st century
The real problems that we will be facing over the next ten years, and our children, include job loss due to technology, software and automation; a new artificial intelligence arms race with China; increased cybersecurity threats; social media addiction; opiate addiction; income & economic disparity due to a new “winner-take-all” economy.
Yang has the best background and experience to fully understand these threats, and having solid plans to deal with them has been a centerpiece of his campaign. Yang ran a health-care technology startup for 5 years, was the CEO of a test preparation company for 6 years, and ran a non-profit called Venture for America for 9 years that created jobs and create fellowship programs for college graduates throughout the midwest.
Yang is not just planning for the present, but for the future of our country.
9. Yang realizes we can’t chase the almighty dollar forever
American scorecard and Human Center Capitalism is where he believes must go as a society
Yang has identified the race to maximize GDP (Gross Domestic Product) as one of the biggest threats our country faces, as it creates all the wrong incentives in all the decisions corporations make.
Our country and corporations have focused on maximizing GDP at the expense of our physical and mental health, childhood success rates our life expectancy (which has actually been decreasing), our happiness, and our environment. Yang has detailed plans on how to address this, including a new American Scorecard, and has promised to give a powerpoint presentation every year to show how much progress we are making towards our new metrics. The American Scorecard will ensure the country focuses not just on economic output.
Yang will lead our country to focus on not just GDP, but these metrics:
Andrew Yang’s “American Scorecard”
Yang’s vision is called Human-Centered Capitalism, which means we use capitalism to benefit ourselves — humans, and not just corporate entities and their shareholders. It means that we must value humans over money. It is a fundamental shift in how we think about our country and our purpose, one that will significantly improve the future for ourselves and our children.
10. Yang is focused on making the country better for your kids
Kids growing up in this country will be facing a harsh reality. 90% of new jobs will be temp, gig or contract work. The cost of a 4-year college is $140,000. Climate change is changing the planet, active shooter drills are the norm. Why are things going so poorly? Yang is laser-focused on solving these problems and leaving a country to our kids that we can be proud of.
Yang’s solution includes the following:
Focus on the root causes for the rapid increases in the price of education, housing and health care — ballooning administrative costs at universities, NIMBYism gone too far, and backward incentives and an artificial shortage of doctors in health care.
Make health care affordable and take it off the backs of small businesses
Research cutting edge technology to attempt to roll back the effects of climate change
Focus on improving the mental health of kids by improving home life, reducing social media addiction, and eliminating harmful active shooter drills which Yang believes do more harm than good
11. Yang is focused on Women’s issues
Yang has seen a surge of support from women recently as he has made women’s issues a cornerstone of his campaign from the start. In every speech, he talks about how Universal Basic Income allows women to escape abusive relationships, leave harassing bosses, and choose to be a stay at home mother if they so choose. He also gives frequent lectures on reproductive rights and the importance of giving women equal opportunity in the highest echelons of the workplace.
His policies for women’s issues include putting more women in leadership positions, women’s right to choose, paid family leave, working conditions during pregnancy, equal pay and assistance for single parents.
12. Has a solid plan how to tax the corporations paying zero in taxes
Amazon, IBM, Duke Energy and over 90 other major companies have paid zero in taxes the last couple of years. Only Yang has a detailed policy that ensures these companies pay their fair share of taxes, through a value-added-tax on business to business transactions that make up the bulk of these companies’ revenues.
In this new data-driven winner-take all economy, Yang realized that our citizens cannot benefit if companies don’t pay their fair share.
Here’s a newsweek article on how Yang will give Americans a slice of the 21st century economy in a trickle up fashion.
