The Future of Politics & Bitcoin with Andrew Yang

 
 

Where to find the show

Download Episode MP3 File
The file will open in a new window. Click down arrow to download the file.

“Politicians are creatures of the market. What market are they responding to? There are political incentives, donors, the media...we have to create our own political incentives, the donors, and the media to stand up for Bitcoin and progress, otherwise we’re going to end up on the cutting room floor.”
— Andrew Yang

SHOW DESCRIPTION

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. 

TIMESTAMPS

00:03:18: Introductions
00:06:32: Running for US President
00:12:52: Dysfunctional politics and media
00:14:50: US state polarisation
00:18:03: Creating a new political party
00:22:19: Humanity Forward lobbyist organisation
00:24:10: The thesis of the Forward Party
00:27:58: Ranked-choice voting explained
00:32:59: The Forward Party policies
00:36:16: Universal Basic Income…
00:40:04: … the disincentive to work
00:41:44: … rising inflation
00:44:21: … cost to implement
00:48:06: Healthcare in the US
00:54:17: The case for Bitcoin in US politics
00:59:07: Support for Andrew Yang
01:03:02: Final comments

 

SUPPORT THE SHOW

If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following:

If you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.

SPONSORS

 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

SHOW NOTES

PodcastPeter McCormack