The Freedom Dividend

Three quick reasons I’m for it, and my primary uncertainty.

Andrew Yang is the best presidential candidate to take us through this Fourth Revolution, I am certain of that. His chief policy, The Freedom Dividend, is a great attention-getter. The profound effect it would have on our country and lives of its citizens is much more than marketing.

A year ago I would have not been for it. At face value, it sounded ridiculous to me. However, thanks to Andrew’s conviction and candor, he’s given many long form interviews, and through these conversations I became a believer.

One main doubt remains, first I want to share three quick reasons why I’m sold:

1. Citizens are stakeholders —
   Other than “UBI” sounding like a VD, renaming his $1000/mo for every American policy to “The Freedom Dividend” is simply a more accurate description. Nation-states will need to compete for their citizenry, and recognize their human contribution. What better way than a good ol’ check?
2. It recognizes jobs that may not be directly rewarded in the conventional marketplace —
   Parents, mentors, neighborhood block captains, the person at the park always available for a game of chess and a chat. Individuals have intrinsic value, and contribute to make our country and communities better in so many ways. This helps those out who may be doing other things than clocking in 5 days a week.
3. It could empower a massive wave of creatives, artists and problem-solvers —
   $1000 could be for many just enough wiggle room to dedicate to that art project or launch the small business they’ve always dreamed of. It’s not enough to live on, and that is an important aspect of the number, though a group could get together, pool that dividend, and not only meet basic material needs but even communally purchase property, vehicles, and more.

Those are three off-the-cuff reasons I’ve warmed up to the Freedom Dividend.

My main concern is it’s not really that hard to make $1000/mo. There are so many ways to scratch together a grand, especially in our hyper-gig economy world, my guy tells me that if folks need that extra money, it may be cutting them short from not giving them the opportunity to grind for it.

Though, when I look back to the toughest financial time in my life, when I launched what would become my first successful and rewarding business, I had about exactly $1000/mo in assistance from friends (and food stamps)! Two jobs on top of getting my own thing going proved to be major distractions. But a few good friends saying, “Tim, keep going, don’t worry about anything else,” and helping out made it possible to give my business what it needed.

So let’s see what happens when all of America has that opportunity…