The War on Normal People
Books | Political Science / Public Policy / Economic Policy
4.4
(146)
Andrew Yang
The New York Times bestseller from CNN Political Commentator and 2020 former Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang, this thought-provoking and prescient call-to-action outlines the urgent steps America must take, including Universal Basic Income (UBI), to stabilize our economy amid rapid technological change and automation. The shift toward automation is about to create a tsunami of unemployment. Not in the distant future--now. One recent estimate predicts 45 million American workers will lose their jobs within the next twelve years--jobs that won't be replaced. In a future marked by restlessness and chronic unemployment, what will happen to American society? In The War on Normal People, Andrew Yang paints a dire portrait of the American economy. Rapidly advancing technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics and automation software are making millions of Americans' livelihoods irrelevant. The consequences of these trends are already being felt across our communities in the form of political unrest, drug use, and other social ills. The future looks dire-but is it unavoidable? In The War on Normal People, Yang imagines a different future--one in which having a job is distinct from the capacity to prosper and seek fulfillment. At this vision's core is Universal Basic Income, the concept of providing all citizens with a guaranteed income-and one that is rapidly gaining popularity among forward-thinking politicians and economists. Yang proposes that UBI is an essential step toward a new, more durable kind of economy, one he calls "human capitalism."
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Author
Andrew Yang
Pages
304
Publisher
Hachette Books
Published Date
2018-04-03
ISBN
0316414255 9780316414258
Ratings
Google: 5
Community ReviewsSee all
"Andrew Yang is a 2020 Democratic presidential candidate and my personal favorite out of the Democratic crowd right now. His signature policy is the "Freedom Dividend" which would pay $12,000/year to every American between 18-64. In "The War on Normal People," Yang lays out his case that automation is a clear and present danger to the traditional American way of life and offers a thoughtful path forward.<br/><br/>I've been thinking about these same issues ever since my senior thesis in college: "Societal Implications of Pervasive Automation" (or, less pretentiously, "What do we do when the robots everything?"). It's easy for us to imagine a glorious post-scarcity future of fully roboticized production and abundant leisure, but how do we get there without killing ourselves? Will the transition to post-scarcity rip our society apart? I generally agree with Yang that a universal basic income (UBI) is an important part of getting the transition right. The devil's in the details though, and in his book Yang demonstrates that he is thoughtful and humble (and funny!) enough to actually have a shot at making this work for real.<br/><br/>Yang has clearly done his homework. He's read all the classics of the genre, from Lights in the Tunnel to Race Against the Machine. He's up to date on Hillbilly Elegy and Dreamland. He's conversant on Cowen and Harari. In the acknowledgements, he traces his intellectual debt to Martin Ford, who I actually interviewed for my senior thesis in the same Palo Alto Starbucks in which I'm writing this review!<br/><br/>He spends a good chunk of the book going over dismal labor statistics. The disability numbers stunned me: 9 million people of working age are on disability at a cost of $143 billion a year. The average lifetime value of a disability claim is $300K. That's a lot of cash. He quotes a judge:<blockquote>“if the American public knew what was going on in our system, half would be outraged and the other half would apply for benefits.”</blockquote>Yang also has some pretty bleak stats on the workforce participation of young men - 10 million men between 25-54 are not working. He cites evidence that lots of them are spending their days playing videogames in mom's basement. And here's a depressing fact for you:<blockquote>More U.S. men aged 18–34 are now living with their parents than with romantic partners</blockquote>One of the things I like most about Yang is that he doesn't pull any punches when it comes to elite failure - especially at prestigious academic institutions (he went to Exeter, Brown, and Columbia, so he'd know). He names and shames - with a couple pointed jabs at the Sackler family (of Oxycontin notoriety) and their buildings at Yale and Harvard. He skewers universities for their relativism, bureaucratic bloat, and spinelessness. He is surprisingly up to speed on hookup culture and the bubble-inducing effects of assortative mating. And his view on the products of these elite institutions is grim:<blockquote>I have been in the room with the people who are meant to steer our society. The machinery is weak. The institutionalization is high. The things you fear to be true are generally true.</blockquote>So Yang says that something needs to change, and obviously his big push is for UBI. The toughest question he faces is how we're going to pay for it. He didn't fully convince me here, although he did point out that insane scale of some other government spending, especially around the financial bailouts:<blockquote>You may not recall that the U.S. government printed over $4 trillion in new money for its quantitative easing program following the 2008 financial collapse. This money went to the balance sheets of the banks and depressed interest rates. It punished savers and retirees. There was little to no inflation.</blockquote>But in some sense, this is really more of a question about the soul of America. After all, we're a country built by a bunch of belt-buckle-hat-wearing dudes who believed in salvation by good works and the Protestant work ethic. That legacy runs deep. Where will we find meaning in a world that no longer needs our jobs?<br/><br/>This is where Yang shines. It's not in the book, but I went to one of his early rallies in San Francisco where he told a story about his family. One of Yang's kids has autism and his wife spends much of her time caring for him. "How much does her work show up in GDP?" he asks. "Zero!" His argument is that there is lots of valuable stuff people do that is systematically undervalued by our current economy (including many things where it is too difficult to capture the value of the positive externalities). He has a fairly comprehensive list that I've included in my highlights.<br/><br/>Is having a job the key to a meaningful human existence? Yang doesn't think so, and includes a brutal quote from an economics professor in Iowa:<blockquote>if a cashier’s job were a video game, we would call it completely mindless and the worst game ever designed. But if it’s called a job, politicians praise it as dignified and meaningful.</blockquote>Yang is clear-eyed and honest about the fact that a lot of jobs suck. And unlike most other politicians and economists, he sees that it's ridiculous to think that we can "retrain" millions of truck drivers to be web developers and AI programmers. Instead, he wants to harness the power of technological and economic progress and direct it towards broad-based human flourishing. His thesis is that "A UBI would be perhaps the greatest catalyst to human creativity we have ever seen." Is he naive? I'm not sure, and I sort of want to find out.<br/><br/>It was also fun to see Miles Lasater, the godfather of Yale entrepreneurship and a very early Yang supporter, show up in the acknowledgements!<br/><br/>Full review and highlights at <a href="https://books.max-nova.com/war-on-normal-people">https://books.max-nova.com/war-on-normal-people</a>"
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