The War on Normal People: The Truth about America's Disappearing Jobs and Why Universal Basic Income Is Our Future

A must read if you wonder what the hell is happening to our future.

I had the pleasure to listen to the audiobook as well as read the book and I was taken away by what I read. Andrew Yang highlights the current job market that is much more technologically inclined and is leaving many blue-collar workers in the dust as they struggle to survive in this dramatic change sweeping not just our country but the world.He also speaks of a need for a universal basic income and not just as a means to help deal with this oncoming crisis. UBI would instantly boost millions out of poverty and instantly give millions more a means to do other productive things. There have been many studies and test programs that have all been remarkably outstanding in support of UBI and it would truly be a gamechanger if implemented in the US.Putting all that aside, The best part of the book for me is that Yang isn't just rambling on with nonsense. He sites the data and studies he uses to back up his arguments so you don't feel the need to treat anything he says with a grain of salt. It is all right there in black and white for you to see and I love that. I truly and highly recommend giving this book a chance. It's incredibly insightful and impactful.

This book is like a jigsaw puzzle in that all the pieces fit together and are inter-related. The more pieces you understand the better you can envision his Scandinavian-like utopia. I won't go far as to say he knows what he's talking about because I don't think anyone is that smart about this topic. But he's obviously well-educated, well-informed, articulate and sincere and he presents a ton of very interesting, useful data that, alone, make the book worth reading. AND I would not argue that the wave of oncoming automation and A/I presents a heretofore unseen set of issues for our economic/social model. But if you look at this guy's background and experience it's not hard to see how he arrived at his finely detailed social engineering model. His only focus is people which in itself is not a bad thing but it's not the ONLY thing. Yes the social services machine we have executed since Lyndon Johnson has failed miserably in really elevating people. But in his suggested replacement system- where is the accountability of the individual? Drugs will go away? Crime will go away? Sitting on your ass playing video games all day will go away? Doing nothing with your life will go away? Not taking advantage of educational opportunities will go away? People hurting other people in any one of a thousand ways will go away??? There seems to be an unmentioned presumed level of character in everyone that he assumes will respond with dignity and positive will to elevate all of mankind in his corrected vision of America. Don't hold your breath on that one. AND there is very little about economics and wealth in the book. I guess we just take it for granted that our economic machine will produce accordingly under this new social model. AND if I read one more author suggest we need to follow the model of Norway, Singapore, Canada or Japan(??) I think I will throw up. THIS COUNTRY IS NOT ANYTHING LIKE ANY OF THOSE COUNTRIES. To suggest we need to follow their political model (on the premise that in his eyes they make wise central planning choices) makes me question his sanity. And yes yes the Universities and Health Care are disasters. But believe me, Andrew, you can not fix them. Medicare for All? And you think you're going to get your fingers into the University endowments??? OMG? You will need new testicles after you try to do that! Here is one thing he said that is absolutely true!!! TRADES!!!! If there is anything that can go a long way to fill the automation job void- it's trades. Ask any mechanic, HVAC company, plumber, builder if he can find enough people to work for him. It's a huge void. Too many MBAs and lawyers walking around and not enough people who can hammer a nail. Anyway... enough said. Very interesting book. If what he suggests comes to be- I hope I'm dead. Probably will be- I'm 72. Please Andrew- do not make me live in communal housing. I'd rather sit in a tree in the forest. Peace brothers...P.S. Social Credits if I help an old person decorate his Christmas tree? OMG... LOL... OMG...

Andrew Yang may be the young, smart, informed presidential candidate you've been hoping would rise from among the fossils. The book presents his clear and well-researched understanding of what automation and artificial intelligence are doing to U.S. jobs: those jobs will continue to disappear at an increasing rate, causing ever more hardship and chaos in our democracy.He then presents reasonable solutions that require significant but not impossible changes to our system, including the "Freedom Dividend": $1000/month to all adult U.S. citizens. He also (I hadn't previously understood this) describes how it could be financed via a Value Added Tax (already used by most countries but not the U.S.).Per Yang, that 10% tax on all purchased goods would not increase taxes for couples purchasing less than $240,000 per year, since they'll be receiving the Dividend ($1000/month x 2). Folks buying yachts and gold-toileted aircraft will pay a great deal more. Need another $100 million yacht to complete your fleet? You can afford the $10 million VAT.Yang calculates that the VAT will cover the net cost of the freedom dividend, which will provide enough that many people in deep financial trouble could relax a bit and look for a job. When they find one, the dividend will not be taken away (as happens with welfare assistance programs). Work hard to better your situation, but have a small, reliable monthly cushion to help survive the hardest times.Please read this book. The detailed research and solutions that Mr. Yang presents have caused me to consider supporting him. You may, too. He has done the work to develop his platform, and has a platform that now seems to make sense. After reading the book, let me know whether you agree.-Bob Meyer

I must admit that I agree, conceptually, with many of the policies in Candidate Yang's book. I do believe in the many social redeeming values in Universal Basic Income. But, I'm not totally sold on Andrew Yang. The one thing I find curiously missing in his speeches and rallies is his Foreign Policy stance, especially as it relates to China. You simply don't hear his views on the CCP or the PLA. And if the topic ever arises, he spends no more than twenty seconds on the topic and speaks only in general terms. I asked my wife about that and she thinks he's simply a mold. I don't think he's a mold, but I know his parents are from Taiwan and he has family in Hong Kong. Both these Provinces are at odds with Mainland China as China claims both as part of China. That leads to the question of a Yang Presidency being compromised, just as the hundreds of thousands of Chinese students studying in the U.S. are. In fact, most of the prestigious colleges and universities have been compromised by the influx of tuition paying Chinese students in this country. Andrew Yang needs to fully expose his plans to augment the recruitment and participation of native-born American students into college level STEM curriculums. These foreign born students do not and often cannot stay here in the U.S. They take their undergraduate, post-graduate, and doctoral degrees back to China, making that country a bastion of intellectual promise and ingenuity. Yang says he's a patriot, so show some patriotism. I'd also like to add that it wouldn't hurt to wear a tie every now and then, you'll look more Presidential rather than a star football player coming out of the tunnel giving high fives to your fans. You will not endear yourself to conservatives or the 50+year-old voters in this country. Regardless of the Freedom Dividends you hand out. I want to have a reason to believe in you, but I want to know if you truly want to move this country forward or is this a sham. In closing I'd want to point out that a great sociologist once said, and I quote " Political Science is the Preeminent Science of all Sciences" You say you're not a politician, but you may want to take a crash course in the subject. Because, if you hope to become President now, or perhaps sometime in the future, you'd better understand the ends and outs of Capitol Hill.