Dear Andrew Yang
Tags: Open Letter, Vision, Production, Economy, Yang

Thank you for running for president. I support you all the way.

I think there is a lot to see in your vision, however I do see room for improvement.

I’ve noticed that a lot of people fear automation and wonder what people would do with all the time that they had through automation and job loss due to what most people might call progress.

They will in fact presume to believe that you fear and oppose automation without ever asking you. I don’t believe you fear automation. You do however have to shock people into seeing a coming reality.

What do thousands of out of work truck drivers do? I wouldn’t presume to say. I can however share my dream for what communities might start doing if their foundation was a little more stable.

This is how mine would go.

I would find several other people that wanted to share the rent for a workshop space. We would slowly invest in tools. Sewing machines, Dremels, a vise, a drill press, etc. I would keep our collectives 3D printers there. I would personally offer laptop and computer repair lessons.

We would find people to offer their knowledge, and we would invite people in the area to come and create with us and to help us solve local problems. What our country needs most at this point in time is more community gardens, community tool sheds, libraries, dance floors, spaces that are combinations of all of these things.

The question of the future should not be “what do we do to give ourselves purpose?” but “What can I do to create purpose in my community?”

I have to be completely honest. As a schizoaffective trans woman I’m not precisely cut to be part of the capitalist grind. I do believe as a person I have a lot to offer though.

All I have really wanted is to be able to have a space where I could create and teach other people who wanted to create what I know. I believe that with the freedom dividend what I envision may be possible. Hopefully, places like this will appear all over the country. With access to tools and encouragement who knows what’s possible?

I don’t think the idea of automation is so dire that people won’t figure out what to do with a little more financial elbowroom and a bit more leeway on trying to decide a healthy productive path for themselves.

In “For Us, The Living: A Comedy of Customs” Heinlein shares a possible future that includes a dividend that all citizens get. A future where artists can work freelance from home, and those that work in vital areas are paid well, nobody goes without, and people are free to live and work and improve themselves as they please.

As a speculative fiction lover and a Heinlein fan this pleases me greatly. Heinlein also famously wrote “A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.”

My dream for the future is that communities start to build places that give learning how to do all of that context. So we understand why it is so vitally important that we teach the future generations how to innovate and problem solve.

Math is great. Using tools to create things is great. Teaching your friends and loved ones is also great. Being with them and watching them create amazing things though; That is the best.

As a president, you can only do so much.

What I believe you could do however is create a space in peoples minds and hearts that allows them to start imagining what they and their friends and loved ones could do collectively.

That’s enough.

So again, from the bottom of my heart; Thank you for running for president.

I know we can do this.