andrew yang's campaign: it’s not left, it’s not right, it’s forward

Andrew Yang came into my radar as a presidential campaign in the most unconventional way possible. I came across his name for the first time through a meme on Facebook. There was an unofficial video campaign for Yang that was based on Naruto's opening scene, and people were sharing that on my timeline.

The opening scene to the unofficial video campaign

The video generated buzz because for one, it was funny. Second, it really appealed to the younger generation through the use of popular memes and pop culture. Thirdly, it really resonated with the Asian American population.

I asked myself - who is this guy? And why is he so interesting compared to the rest? And why am I interested?

How He's Different

Yang is different in so many ways - starting from his race (the first Asian American presidential candidate who was properly given a voice and platform). His background is also different from most, he came from the tech scene of Silicon Valley and the startup world. He did not have a political background like most other politicians.

For me, this is refreshing. I'm tired of politics, and I'm tired of the back and forth that goes between the two ideologies that dominate the political conversation in the United States. I feel like at times, the conversations between the two polar opposites end up being counter productive. People are debating with their hearts, and not with facts. And no one is really interested in trying to solve tangible problems, but instead the goal is to push their agendas and prove that their ideology is right.

At least, that’s what it feels like.

Andrew Yang, who came from the "outside" of politics, is a breath of fresh air. I don't know all of his policies, and if I even agree with his platforms - but this made him interesting. There’s not really any agenda to push, it seems like.

My Issue with Politics

Once I had asked my American friend - is it possible for the two major ideologies (Conservative and Liberal) be used in a productive way to address problems? Is it possible to use conservative approaches when it is necessary, and liberal approaches in other cases? Or is one is objectively superior than the other?

At least in my view, that was the way it is in Economics. Despite having two polar ideologies (free market vs government intervention), it is understood that during the Great Depression the government had to take action to save the economy, and the free market would not work. It is also understood that the concept of free market (neoliberalism) doesn't work in certain countries, such as the Global South, while it may work in the United States and other Western world.

Can this idea be applied to politics?

Andrew Yang’s Narrative

It seemed like Andrew Yang is one to embrace this idea. His tag line is "not left, not right, it's forward" which is again, unconventional but straight to the point. His brand and key differentiator is that he is interested only in facts and how to solve the problems in our society. He’s not interested in furthering the left party or the right party (even though, we must acknowledge that he is running as a Democrat).

There are some parallels to Trump's campaign (e.g. his other tagline "MATH: Make America Think Harder", which is a clear twist from Trump's and a clear play on stereotypes of Asians and their association with math). But the message is quite clear. Let’s rely on the facts and objective analysis. Let’s get to the bottom of these complex problems.

Andrew Yang wearing his "MATH" hat. He was also spotted in a presidential debate wearing a "MATH" pin.

I have to admit that this is again, interesting. At least it's different that the tiring dance that we see currently in the current political climate.

With Yang’s background as an entrepreneur, his marketing campaign and use of clever taglines, Yang establishes himself as a data-driven candidate, objective, and fact based. This is very, very different from many politicians who appeal to emotions and frame their narratives around it.

Moreover - I realized that he uses a very "lean startup" approach in his plans (e.g. proposing to test his platforms first on a sample population to see whether it works or not). He even uses Slack to manage his volunteers! If that doesn’t scream tech startups, I don’t know what does.

This gives me an impression that he’ll bring in the innovation we continuously see in the tech world into government work. Again, I'm not sure if his policies and proposals are the best or the "right" one, but maybe this data-driven kind of approach is what we need in solving the problems in this increasingly complex society.