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  • (dramatic music)

  • - Bartenders are now being replaced by machines

  • so who better to talk about that then Andrew Yang,

  • and to have him try our crazy creation, Giant's Milk.

  • It's a whole bottle of Goldschlager,

  • a whole bottle of vodka.

  • Followed by a bottle of Fireball and a bottle of Hennessy.

  • Then you've got a bottle of Godiva White Chocolate,

  • a bottle of RumChata, a bottle of Bailey's,

  • a bottle of Kahlua.

  • This is a potent mix based on Game of Thrones.

  • Andrew, I hope you like it; let's talk automation.

  • So I have Andrew Yang over, okay,

  • presidential candidate.

  • I know you're a Game of Thrones fan,

  • - Yes I am.

  • - So I created this drink called Giant's Milk.

  • - Even after the last season, still a fan.

  • - Why though?

  • - It entertained us. I mean, it didn't end on

  • the greatest note but come on, it was awesome, overall.

  • - It was awesome up until last season, though.

  • - It was better before the last season.

  • (laughs)

  • - Okay, this season--

  • - And then we all needed a drink.

  • - Okay, you ready?

  • - We'll all be, "Let me re-write that season in my mind."

  • With some booze. - (laughs)

  • - You ready to try Giant's Milk?

  • - Oh, this is actually very appropriate.

  • Giant's Milk - Cheers.

  • Straight out of Game of Thrones.

  • (thump, thump)

  • - What'd you think?

  • - Ah, I feel bigger already.

  • - You like it?

  • Yeah, - (laughs)

  • I feel great.

  • - Okay, so, let me get into what I want to ask you.

  • In Las Vegas right now you have machines moving in

  • and bartenders--

  • - Yeah, we do.

  • Are being automated away.

  • - Now this sounds like science fiction but MGM just

  • replaced hundreds of it's bartenders in all their casino's

  • in Las Vegas with robots.

  • - Uh huh.

  • - And you just go and you tell it what drink to make

  • and it does its robot arms shaka-shaka-shaka and

  • it's a bit of a spectacle.

  • - Oh, right.

  • - And it serves the drink to you.

  • And why did they do this?

  • To save money because if you think about hundreds

  • of salaries and benefits for these bartenders,

  • they did the math and they said a robot is going

  • to do the same job and it's going to pay for itself

  • over time.

  • So this is, you can look it up.

  • - Uh huh.

  • - You can just Google that.

  • - So, but that tells me something.

  • That tells me that in 30 years, okay, because if MGM

  • did it, right, I know that tomorrow Cheesecake Factory's

  • going to do it.

  • TGI Friday's is going to do it, Olive Garden's going

  • to do it, Red Lobster's going to do it.

  • So that tells me 30 years from today there are no more

  • human bartenders.

  • Would you agree with that?

  • - There will be human bartenders but they will be

  • not in the big chains because the big chains

  • will have the money.

  • If you think about your Mom and Pop bar on the corner,

  • like they're not going to get a bartending robot

  • but to your point, after MGM does it, are the

  • other casino's going to do it?

  • Yes.

  • Are the restaurant chains going to do it?

  • Yes, and the sad truth of it is that customers

  • kind of enjoy watching the robot arms do their thing.

  • - I know, that's the thing, it worked!

  • Because people, bartenders always thought,

  • "You know, no one wants to get a drink from a robot."

  • Apparently that is not true, they frickin' love it.

  • - Yeah, it's-- - (laughs)

  • It's brutally true. Cause I grew up watching Cheers

  • and, you know, the rest of it and it's like you think

  • of a bartender as like a companion or a consigliere

  • or a sounding board.

  • But now it's just robot arms making that drink.

  • - What other jobs do you see 30 years from today

  • that won't be here?

  • Because I know people in college right now taking subjects

  • that I, don't do it, that's a waste of time.

  • By the time you graduate that will be non-existent.

  • - Yeah, there are many jobs that unfortunately are

  • in the midst of getting replaced by machines and

  • technology right now.

  • Call center workers, when you call a customer service

  • line it's going to be software that sounds like this,

  • "Hey, Sky, how you doing?"

  • - I know, I've heard-- - "What can I do for you?"

  • I've heard stuff like that before.

  • - Yeah, and right now that software is terrible and

  • you're just like, "zero, zero, human, human, human,

  • get me a human" but in two or three years

  • you're not going to be able to tell the difference.

  • So, that's going to go away.

  • Driving a truck or a car for a living.

  • They're making cars and trucks that can drive themselves

  • and that's the most common job in 29 states.

  • Food service, over time. If you go into a fast food

  • restaurant you can see self serve kiosks in most

  • of the locations now, at this point, and it's going

  • to go to the back of the house cause they can actually

  • do a lot of the assembling of food.

  • - Back of the house, he means like in the kitchen

  • where you guys don't see. - In the kitchen, yeah.

  • - Right now, they are placed in the front of the house

  • so that you just go beep, boop, boop and like the food

  • comes out to you.

  • Now their migrating to the back of the house and it's

  • not just these manual jobs, it's also accounting,

  • being a lawyer.

  • - Okay, so right there, don't become an account,

  • don't become a lawyer.

  • Is that what you're saying?

  • - I would definitely say don't become a lawyer

  • because I did that job for five and a half months--

  • - (laughs)

  • - and not only can you automate away that job but

  • it's also not a good time.

  • But you can automate, I mean, artificial intelligence

  • can already look at contracts and documents more quickly

  • and accurately then a human.

  • - Oh, wow, I didn't even know that one.

  • - Yeah, that's on.

  • - So, okay, so I'm a 18-year-old, 20-year-old

  • undecided about what I want to do with my future, right?

  • - Yep.

  • - Like, what jobs will be here 30 years from now that

  • makes sense studying because if you, I would, because

  • most people would say, "Learn the code."

  • but I've already seen YouTube videos of A.I. doing

  • basic coding.

  • - A.I. can do basic coding.

  • - Exactly, and if A.I.'s doing basic coding today,

  • by the time you graduate imagine how good that will be.

  • - Yeah, and that's one of the things that frustrates me,

  • honestly, learning to code.

  • One, that's not realistic for a lot of people.

  • Two, a lot of people don't want to learn to code

  • and three, software is going to be able to code in

  • many environments faster and more accurately then humans.

  • So, what I'd advise an 18-year-old, aside form staying

  • sober, just kidding, (laughs) - (laughs)

  • is, one, try and figure out what you actually enjoy doing.

  • It sounds kind of cliche but if you enjoy doing something,

  • the odds of your being good at it are much, much higher.

  • Two, put yourself in a position to continuously learn

  • from other people because it's this team-oriented

  • type of work that's going to be more and more

  • in demand in the future.

  • - That stuff never goes out of style and frankly, we're

  • getting less good at training people to be good team

  • players and so if you're a good team player it's actually

  • super valuable.

  • Whether, and I one of the things I love is, I love

  • entrepreneurship; something like you're doing here.

  • It's tremendous.

  • If you can create your own opportunities, that's ideal.

  • That's a very high bar but the way you learn to create

  • opportunities is you figure out what problems other

  • people have and you try and solve them.

  • And that doesn't mean you have to start a company

  • around it, that can be just like, "Hey, I'm going

  • to help you and try and solve problems."

  • That kind of thing will also always be with us.

  • By the numbers, 44% of American jobs are subject to

  • automation so we're not going to get rid of every

  • job.

  • - And what period of time would you say?

  • - Twenty years.

  • - You're sure it's 20 years away because just

  • for instance--

  • - Oh no, it's a curve, it's happening right now.

  • I mean, it happened to the MGM bartenders like a

  • number of months ago.

  • - Yeah.

  • - So, it's happening all the time but what I'm saying

  • is that over the next 20 years it will be indisputable

  • that a significant proportion of the jobs we're doing

  • right now will go to machines.

  • - Okay, but Andrew, so, a lot of people out there,

  • America's all about capitalism.

  • I love it, that's why, you know, I'm here, because

  • this is capitalism.

  • I love it, I love being an entrepreneur, you know,

  • doing my own thing.

  • - Yeah, you're a dyed-in-the-wool entrepreneur.

  • - (laughs) but--

  • - I can taste it in this drink.

  • - (laughs) but I know that, that is not going to be

  • available to most people.

  • - It's not, I agree, I agree.

  • - In a few years.

  • Even me, because right now they have artificial influencers,

  • okay, they still look unrealistic but then if you

  • think of companies like NVIDIA that is able

  • to make photos of very realistic looking people,

  • you could create a guy who's ripped and fit

  • and a girl who's super sexy and they'll be

  • on billboards and posters

  • and Instagram store shots - That's true.

  • and they will not be real people.

  • So half of the influencers in the future won't even

  • be human.

  • - Yeah, they already have A.I. generated news anchors.

  • - I saw that in China.

  • I saw that in China, yes.

  • - Now they're very boring and they just read the news

  • so it's not like they're simulating people's personalities

  • but you're right, we're not that far from a world where

  • you're not going to be able to tell the difference

  • between a computer generated personality online

  • and a real one.

  • And in some ways the computer generated one might be

  • more evocative because it's tied to your desires

  • and wants, you know, according to the data.

  • I know, it's eerie.

  • We're not far away from this stuff.

  • We've got to get our act together as fast as possible,

  • that's why I'm running for President.

  • - When, during the debates I saw a comment posted about you

  • where a guy was like, "Ah, here's Andrew Yang talking about

  • our robot overlords" but a lot of people out there

  • don't realize the line between science fiction

  • and reality, - That is real, yeah.

  • is, that's beginning to disappear.

  • - And what I say to people is, "Look, you have a super

  • computer in your pocket."

  • you're probably watching this on your super computer.

  • Donald Trump's our President.

  • Your mall just closed.

  • You know, it's like, it's here.

  • I mean, none of that stuff would have made any sense

  • just 10 years ago and now here we are,

  • so we've got to open our eyes.

  • - Okay, let me ask you about this, because there's

  • three pieces of tech that I've never heard you speak of

  • but these are some serious job killers.

  • So, I can just run through three and you can tell me

  • what it is.

  • The first one is 3-D printing.

  • Most Americans heard about 3-D printing because

  • there was a guy trying to print a plastic gun

  • but we are way past that.

  • We're printing houses, collagen that goes in your knees

  • and stuff, I mean, crazy stuff like that.

  • The next one would be vertical farming because now

  • you will be able to grow all your fruits and vegetables

  • in a city and they will be higher quality because

  • it's an artificial environment then the guys who are

  • growing out there on a farm.

  • Also, with meat now you have cultured meat

  • where you take a few stem cells from a cow

  • and you're able to create a burger, all right,

  • so, cultured meat and then vertical farming.

  • I mean, if you're a farmer you're like royally screwed

  • and this has nothing to do with China's tariffs.

  • - Well, I'm heading to Iowa from here,

  • very politician-y,

  • I know, but, - (laughs)

  • its true, I am heading to Iowa.

  • I mean, it's a primarily agricultural region.

  • If you are a small farmer you've gotten squeezed out

  • by these conglomerates a while ago.

  • So, and a lot of the agricultural production has

  • now gotten mechanized in the fields.

  • So, to the extent that we're going to move it to

  • a vertical farming and cultured animal products,

  • I will say that you're not putting the Mom and Pop

  • farmer out of business because the Mom and Pop farmer

  • got squeezed out by--

  • - Yeah.

  • - By these American conglomerates a while ago.

  • And the American conglomerates will probably end up

  • investing in vertical farms and some of the cultured

  • meat products.

  • - But they're fighting it now because you can't label,

  • in some states you can't label, you can't call it

  • a vegan burger, you can't use...

  • You know what I mean, they try to play with it

  • to try and slow it down but there's no slowing this down.

  • Once this train starts moving there's no stopping.

  • That's just the way it is.

  • - Well, that's one of the themes of my campaign,

  • is Donald Trump sold, "We're going to bring the old

  • jobs back. We're going to turn the clock backwards"

  • and I'm saying we've got to turn the clock forwards.

  • We have to accelerate.

  • One of my flagship proposals, you know, is to give

  • American adult $1000 a month until we can all start

  • sharing in the progress.

  • But I agree with you, some of these trends

  • that you've identified, they're just getting started

  • now and they're going to become more and more

  • part of our lives.

  • - But is $1000 enough money because when I look out there--

  • - (laughs)

  • - No, here I'm asking because I'm what you call

  • a Facebooker.

  • Like, you've met YouTubers, I started on YouTube

  • and now I do what YouTubers do on YouTube on Facebook.

  • So I'm one of the original Facebookers and I live by

  • an algorithm, like everyday.

  • Like, some days we know, okay, dude, this algorithm change

  • is coming down and our income goes to zero overnight.

  • - Ugh.

  • - And just imagining that spread all across the country.

  • Like, without Universal Basic Income, these tech dudes

  • will have to move into bunkers and stay there

  • for the rest of their lives.

  • Cause this, guys are not going to take this peacefully.

  • - I'm friends with some of these tech guys and

  • they realize that life outside of the bunker is much,

  • much, much more appealing. - (laughs)

  • then the opposite.

  • - (laughs)

  • They like sunlight and they like fresh air.

  • - (laughs)

  • - So, yeah, we have to keep everyone above ground.

  • - And you think $1000 is enough to do that?

  • - Well, $1000 a month is a foundation.

  • It's a floor and it's a way we can get started

  • to start moving in the right direction in terms

  • of the way we think about work and value in our society.

  • Because we need to be bigger and broader about the

  • way we think about work.

  • I talk about my wife who's at home with our two boys

  • right now, one of whom has autism.

  • Right now we don't regard her work as having economic value

  • or being rewarded in our society,

  • so we start with this $1000 a month foundation

  • and then we start building on top of it.

  • And it seems very forward but if you think about it,

  • we're just decades behind the curve right now,

  • because Washington D.C. is way behind.

  • You can see it, you can feel it.

  • You watch a hearing in D.C. about Facebook and see how--

  • - Oh, yes!

  • - They've never heard of freaking Facebook--

  • - Yes!

  • Chuck Grassley--

  • - Your a Facebooker, you know what I'm talking about.

  • - Chuck Grassley was like, "So, Mark, um, how do you

  • make money?" And Zuckerberg was looking around

  • like, "This dude don't know?" - (laughs)

  • What? - Is that a real question?

  • Yeah, what?

  • He knew he was smooth sailing from that point on

  • because he knew Congress had no idea what this dude does.

  • - They had no idea and the most embarrassing thing is

  • those questions you heard, if you followed, heard them,

  • that was after they prepared.

  • - (laughs)

  • - It wasn't like Zuckerberg had like a surprise visit

  • and then someones, "Oh, here's just a question

  • off the top of my head."

  • - (laughs)

  • - That's after the staff researched it and said,

  • "This is the best question we can come up with."

  • - You're not in support of breaking Facebook up?

  • - I think that we should explore breaking up Facebook

  • and some of the other tech companies, I do.

  • I don't think that it solves all the problems.

  • I think it's a deeper then just breaking them up,

  • in my opinion, but some of the companies should be

  • forced to give up certain parts of their business, yes.

  • - Okay, but I mean like, when you say "Break up Facebook"

  • you're talking in terms of like WhatsApp is separate

  • and then-- - Instagram.

  • Instagram is separate.

  • Like that?

  • - I think that's a good way to look at it,

  • but one of the things I've suggested, and this is going

  • to be a little depressing, but we've seen higher levels

  • of depression and anxiety, particularly among

  • teenage girls, that are coincident with smartphone use

  • and social media use.

  • And so what we have to do is we have to go to Facebook

  • and Instagram and Snap and the rest of it and be like,

  • "Okay, what is it about your apps and the interaction

  • that is causing some of these mental health and emotional

  • issues among certain populations."

  • And so if you break them up into different companies,

  • that doesn't actually change anything about the way

  • teenage girls are interacting with the app,

  • so we have to not just say, "Oh, if we break you up then

  • everything will be good."

  • We actually have to figure out what we're trying to solve

  • for and then that may involve getting into a different

  • set of issues then ownership structure.

  • - I see.

  • And do you, okay, so some people feel that...

  • I'm Facebook, Mr. Zuckerberg because I know you're

  • watching this, okay, so, I ain't bashing--

  • - What's your favorite drink, Zuck?

  • - (laughs)

  • - Is it the Giant's Milk?

  • - Have you actually, have you met him?

  • - (laughs)

  • - Well, you can't answer that.

  • - Well, actually I haven't met him.

  • - You haven't met him?

  • - Yeah, I haven't met him.

  • - What?

  • - We have people in common, but I don't know him.

  • - But these tech guys call you up because

  • Jeff Bezos call you up and be like, "Hey, I heard

  • you bashing Amazon for closing malls. Cut it out

  • or you know, you could lose your Prime membership."

  • Have you ever gotten a call like that?

  • - Uh (laughs) - (laughs)

  • Jeff has not called me about that just yet.

  • I mean, there are a lot of people waking up

  • to the fact that Amazon, a trillion dollar tech company,

  • paying zero in taxes.

  • So, that's not just me.

  • I mean, if you called everyone who said that

  • he'd be calling a lot of people, let's put it that way.

  • But, hey, Jeff, feel free to give me a call

  • and we can talk about this, about how we're

  • going to get that money.

  • (laughs)

  • - But overall, what's the tech communities response

  • to you in taxing them to pay this UBI so American's

  • can have something to live off?

  • - Well, what's encouraging is that a lot of techies are

  • on board.

  • I've got the support of hundreds of very prominent

  • techies because most of them are just doing their

  • jobs, they're just hanging out, and if you

  • say to them, "Hey, are you causing massive changes

  • in other parts of the economy?" Their like,

  • "Oh, yeah, I am."

  • And you say, "Do you want to do something about it?"

  • and then a lot of them, not all of them, but a lot

  • of them say, "Yeah, I would do something about it."

  • You know, like some of them are from the Midwest

  • and they've seen what's happening in the rural areas,

  • like, their not--

  • - Yeah, because the Midwest, yeah, that's, I mean,

  • tech's going to destroy that whole...

  • Any agricultural community has some issues coming.

  • - Well, the reason why Donald Trump's our President today

  • is that we automated away four million manufacturing jobs

  • in Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania,

  • Missouri, Iowa.

  • So, they've already felt it in the Midwest,

  • like they've seen it and what's happened to those jobs

  • and communities is now going to spread to other parts

  • of the economy.

  • - Basic Incomes won't solve this, this will just be some,

  • somewhat of a softer landing.

  • That's the goal.

  • - Well, Basic Income, the Freedom Dividend--

  • - Yeah, Freedom Dividend.

  • - If you imagine you'd have a $1000 a month to everyone

  • here in Los Angeles, that money would go into

  • restaurants and daycare and Little League.

  • It like supercharges communities, so it's not like

  • you get your $1000 and then everything's golden.

  • Of course not, but if you project what happens

  • in every community, if everyone has an extra $12,000

  • a year to spend then that starts to create other types

  • of opportunities for people at every educational level.

  • You know, every skill level.

  • - What do say to the guy out there who is like, "Well,

  • listen, you know, I worked hard to get where I am without

  • anyone giving me a handout, okay, I don't agree

  • with this. Okay, young people need to just work hard."

  • - You know, it's not so much an age thing.

  • I just spoke at an AARP meeting and right now about

  • half of Americans who are just entering retirement age

  • don't have the money to retire.

  • - Yeah, no one does.

  • - So it's not like their like, "Oh, I'm sitting pretty.

  • Screw the young people."

  • Like, their not sitting pretty.

  • They're looking up being, "What the heck happened?"

  • You know, my parents, one of them actually had something

  • called a pension. (laughs)

  • They started getting rid of that stuff like,

  • very, very quickly.

  • So, and my parents are in their seventies, so,

  • it's not like an age thing.

  • There are a lot of people that support me that are

  • entering retirement age and see that the economies

  • not working for them or for their kids.

  • - Because we, you know, live in this social media world

  • where algorithms change on a daily basis.

  • Everyday we come into our office and we discuss

  • like whatever tech broke the night before.

  • - Wow, good for you.

  • - And it is scary how quickly things are moving.

  • I don't think Americans understand that, like our

  • technological know-how is beginning to double at an

  • incredible rate. - Yeah.

  • And in a couple years you will go to bed in one world and

  • wake up in a new one and that's not going to be happening

  • not just over night but every few hours

  • at the pace we're moving.

  • - Yeah, most Americans don't really understand what

  • exponential growth would actually mean.

  • It's happening in processing power.

  • Again, your smartphone, that would have been the

  • equivalent of literally rooms and rooms

  • full of giant computers.

  • (laughs) - Like several years ago.

  • Yeah, yeah, like the eighties and early nineties.

  • And so, it's hard for the human mind to understand

  • what this is going to mean in particular areas

  • of the economy but it's happening.

  • You know, and the rate of change tends to be nonlinear.

  • It can be like, "eh" and than all of a sudden "up."

  • - High, yeah because we...

  • So, let me ask you this, does a President Yang

  • fully endorse artificial intelligence research?

  • Like, do you really embrace the science behind it

  • and really try to push it?

  • - That's one of the themes of the campaign is we

  • should be excited about A.I. but right now a lot

  • of Americans are not excited because what they see

  • with the arrival of A.I. is that it feels like

  • someone is pulling the strings or it could be that

  • you lose your job to A.I.

  • And then what do you get in return?

  • The goal has to be that we are all excited about

  • the future so if we all get $1000 a month that's

  • partially funded by A.I. then you're like, "Okay,

  • that's good."

  • The other thing is you need a competent government

  • who actually understands the A.I. and says, "Look,

  • this is great that it can help us cure cancer,

  • maybe start to address climate change."

  • Like it can help us solve real problems but also

  • we can't let it run amok.

  • We can't just say, "A.I.'s going to replace

  • hundreds of thousands of call center workers

  • and the American public's going to get zero

  • in return" and we can't have it that the government

  • is decades behind the curve and out-to-lunch

  • while these A.I. advances are going on.

  • We need to have someone in the room who actually

  • understands the technology and is like, "Okay,

  • let's unplug this thing

  • (laughs)

  • this time because, you know it's doing some stuff

  • that we genuinely don't understand."

  • And I'm friendly enough with the cutting edge technologists

  • in this space that many of them are actually open to having

  • someone in the room or a partnership with government

  • because the most enlightened of them know that we're

  • entering uncharted territory.

  • - Speaking of which,--

  • - They like President Yang.

  • - (laughs)

  • - Their part of the Yang Gang..

  • - (laughs)

  • Speaking of which, Elon Musk, Bill Gates,

  • Stephen Hawking, they all have, they all said

  • we need to approach A.I. with great caution

  • because we are very likely to create something

  • that we cannot control.

  • How do you feel about that?

  • - They're right.

  • We need to be cautious about how we enter this frontier

  • and we can't be afraid of advancing ourselves

  • and innovating but we need to have some checks and

  • some people in the room that represent the public interest.

  • - But would you, are you endorsing, let's say like

  • Elon Musk, for instance, feels that the way to

  • avoid that happening is his company, Neuralink,

  • where we try to sync the human brain with our cellphones

  • so that as A.I. advances, we advance.

  • - You know what's funny is I had to give up my phone

  • for a few hours, I mean it happens to all of us,--

  • - (laughs)

  • - and then you actually feel like you're missing a part

  • of yourself.

  • So, I'm not even sure you need Neuralink--

  • - (laughs)

  • - I mean at this point the phone is such a part of us,

  • being like, "Ah, my phone says this."

  • I mean, I think Elon's approach is a natural

  • and a logical one.

  • No, I don't think it necessarily just solves the problem

  • where we're all like glued to our phones

  • and then we're all...

  • One, we're kind of already there

  • and two, my being linked to my phone does not help

  • some of the bigger macro issues around

  • the replacement of work.

  • - I can calculate stuff real quick, though.

  • - Yeah, I can already do that. - (laughs)

  • - Are you really good at math?

  • - The opposite of Donald Trump is an Asian man

  • who likes math.

  • - Are you really good at math?

  • - I'm pretty good. - (laughs)

  • Not to feed stereotypes here.

  • - Why is it that we have to stand in line in 2019,

  • 2020 to vote when we have the technology

  • where we could vote on our phones?

  • - Yeah, I know, we pay our parking tickets and whatnot

  • already on our phone.-

  • - Yeah!

  • Why can't, like why can't I vote on my phone?

  • - All right, so here's the real truth.

  • Our technologies not really ready yet

  • (laughs)

  • for us to have secure voting online.

  • - We could do it on a blockchain, though.

  • - So, one of my initiatives is that I want to move us

  • towards online voting but the reality is for the next

  • at least couple of elections, we would need to have

  • a paper backup because right now it's not

  • quite as secure as we need it to be

  • and the blockchain can't support activities

  • at quite at that scale, yet.

  • Potentially it could.

  • - Okay, but--

  • - and I'm a 100% on board with moving us in that direction

  • because it would be transformative for Democracy

  • and we could just vote easily and we'd all

  • have total confidence in it.

  • - Yeah, like no one should have to leave work and drop,

  • you know, drop and then wait in line for three hours

  • on a business day.

  • - So, I want to make Election Day a national holiday, too,

  • because if you're going to say we're a Democracy,

  • you need to vote, then we should give you the day off.

  • But, over time, I couldn't agree with you more

  • that we need to move that stuff online.

  • - Yeah, well, you know, I can't get; you know,

  • I don't even have a car!

  • Okay!

  • I Uber, you know what I mean.

  • I have to Uber to the polls to wait in line

  • for three hours, come on, man.

  • - I will say, there are people I've met who are voters

  • around the country who are the reverse of you.

  • They have the car but they do not have the smartphone.

  • - (laughs)

  • Yeah, I get that.

  • - So they want to be able to go someplace and

  • pull that lever.

  • For Yang!

  • - One of the things that we always complain about

  • is, "Hey, in school we learn all about photosynthesis

  • and algebra, okay, stuff that does not pop-up

  • in everyday life, but what we do not learn is how

  • to do our taxes."

  • All the financial stuff you really have to depend on.

  • - Yeah, so financial literacy should be part of our

  • required curriculum in high school.

  • Not just financial literacy but also basic psychology,

  • health and nutrition,

  • effective use of technology,

  • relationships and relationship management.

  • I mean, these are the things that would actually

  • make high school students excited to learn.

  • - But is there someone out there that actively--

  • - And it would help us.

  • - Is there someone out there that would actively

  • block this because just where did we never, like,

  • even the best schools in America don't

  • necessarily teach that stuff.

  • - Teach this. I mean, I have an economics degree

  • and I was still not financially literate until--

  • - (laughs)

  • - Sometime thereafter.

  • One of the things that I realized was that you cannot

  • become financially literate until you have some money.

  • - Yeah.

  • - So we put some money in your hands and we teach you

  • financial literacy and then it clicks.

  • - Yeah.

  • - Before then you were like, "Yeah, whatever, time,

  • value, money."

  • So, to your question as to why we have this archaic

  • curriculum, it's because in America we set up this

  • curriculum during the Industrial Revolution and it's

  • very much geared toward creating industrial workers.

  • And also pretends that everyone's going to college

  • when not everyone's going to go to college.

  • And then the school's don't have a powerful incentive

  • to adapt or evolve and so if you show up on the scene

  • and say, "Hey, we should teach financial literacy"

  • you have tens of thousands of school districts

  • and school boards around the country who are

  • like, "Ah, well, I've got all these requirements

  • and the teachers know how to teach them and all

  • the stuff and the budget and the curricula."

  • But trying to modify what school's are teaching now

  • is like trying to move a battleship.

  • It's tough.

  • So, I mean we're in a bit of a pickle.

  • So, I'm with you, we need to try and adapt and evolve.

  • We should have high school courses that are actually

  • relevant to kids but they can't just bust out

  • their smartphone and look up.

  • And we have to say, "Look, college is not for everyone."

  • We have to try and train people to have a vibrant,

  • healthy, productive life even if they're not going

  • to college because so much of the course work

  • right now assumes you're going to try and go to college.

  • - Your UBI, you don't endorse paying off everyone's

  • school debt, right?

  • - I think we have reached a point where we have

  • an immoral level of school debt and I would forgive

  • a lot of it but I don't believe in a blanket forgiveness.

  • Like we have to, so one of the things I propose is

  • a 10 by 10 plan, where if you commit 10% of your

  • wages, whatever they are, it could be zero, for 10 years

  • then your debt free at the end of that.

  • So, that would help millions of Americans but it's not

  • like we're just going to scrub it all.

  • We need to get the cost of education down,

  • we need to put money into your hands,

  • whether you go to school or not,

  • but we have reached 1.5 trillion in school debt

  • and it's this crushing, immoral burden on

  • many, many Americans.

  • - Okay, I get that, but what about many of us who have not

  • gone to college.

  • Like, you know, the argument is like, "Okay, wait a minute

  • now, they're getting hooked up but we can't?"

  • - Yeah, I know what you mean.

  • That's one reason why the Freedom Dividend hooks

  • everyone up.

  • - Right, right!

  • - So now I'm giving money to everybody.

  • - And I, yeah, yeah, yeah, okay.

  • - And so I would try and work out the most extreme cases

  • of student debt cause some of these schools really

  • shafted people.

  • But I feel you, man, because, like, you were

  • just making it happen.

  • He's just hustling and becoming a Facebook star.

  • - (laughs)

  • - He didn't need school to do it.

  • There's a lesson there.

  • - (laughs)

  • - Not that everyone's going to do it.

  • - I'm just joking.

  • - I'm not, Andrew Yang is not advocating that

  • everyone become - yeah, yeah

  • an influencer, cause that's mathematically impossible.

  • - (laughs)

  • - There are not enough hours in the day for all of us

  • to become influencers.

  • - I thank you for coming out.

  • You could tell them, you could say bye to the audience.

  • - Thank you all, if you want to learn more about me,

  • automation, the Freedom Dividend, how we can build

  • an economy that works for us,

  • a trickle-up human centered economy,

  • go to yang2020.com, make a donation,

  • the cost of a drink or less, doesn't matter,

  • - (laughs)

  • - And let's make this country one that

  • we're still proud to call our own in the days to come.

  • So, thank you all very much

  • and thank you, Skyy.

  • - Check out Andrew Yang.

  • Thank you for watching, I realize this was a much

  • different kind of episode,

  • but hey, my bartenders out there,

  • which I am one of, losing their jobs.

  • So, I wonder how long before a machines here

  • replacing me.

  • Later, stay tipsy.

  • (laughs)

  • - Stay tipsy.

(dramatic music)

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