The Future of Politics & Bitcoin with Andrew Yang - WBD421

Location: New York
Date: Friday 29th October
Project: Forward Party
Role: Leader


Nearly two-thirds of Americans want to vote for someone outside
of the current two main parties. The current duopoly is limiting
competition in the space for ideas, and worse, it’s actively
promoting the polarisation of society. Yet, voting for a
third-party candidate isn’t a choice most voters get, and even
when they do, it risks being deemed a wasted vote by a media that
frames election results as an existential risk to the
nation. 


The underlying concern is that the current political system is
getting in the way of solving the biggest problems at a time when
the economy and society is changing in fundamental ways. But
whilst most people can see that our politics and media are
dysfunctional, they also feel impotent. 


Andrew Yang is one of those rare individuals who has decided to
actively try and change the system, despite the odds being
stacked against change being driven by an outsider. However, he’s
already shown he can do the heavy lifting: he made a meaningful
mark on the 2020 Presidential election despite not being part of
the political establishment or having had a celebrity
platform. 


In this interview, I talk to Andrew, author of ‘The War on Normal
People’ (2018), ‘Forward’ (2021),  and leader of the Forward
Party, about his 2020 Presidential run and his current mission to
bring about genuine political competition. We then discuss what
such competition would enable: reasoned debate about big ideas
such as Universal Basic Income, health reform, and Bitcoin.