In this video from MSNBC, Democratic candidate for the United States presidency Andrew Yang answers some direct questions about racial issues and economic inequality.
According to him, racial issues get diluted if communities are economically better off, of course with the Freedom Dividend which is central to Yang’s candidacy. That would be because poverty is one of the greatest causes for racial exclusion, while also a consequence of it, in a social degrading feedback loop. So, the rationale is that with less poverty, people respect each other more, irrespective of their skin colour.
On economic inequality, Yang reminds us that 1000 $/month for someone like Jeff Bezos is irrelevant, while crucially significant for millions of people living on the lower end of the income scale. That means that, according to him, the distribution of a Freedom Dividend immediately reduces inequality. Moreover, financing the Dividend might also further reduce inequality, by imposing a 10% Value Added Tax which naturally will weight more on relatively richer people, due to their higher levels of consumption.
Yang also stated that the VAT would not be on essential goods, therefore relieving a bit more of the tax burden on the poor.
Whatever you want to call it, the Basic Income Guarantee will reshape the economy in a positive way as it will enable so many who were on the fringe to participate in more wealth building activities such as buying a home, seeding a business start up paying for college WITHOUT having to take on additional debt. I can see how this infuriates those in the upper class since many of the wealth engines are fueled by debt and poverty. it is time we throw a kink into the the oppressive mechanisms used by the rich and Basic Income will do just that.