Andrew Yang's First YouTube Interview EVER (Why There Should Be An Asian President)

My wife jokes that by the end of the campaign, my icon is going to be like giant hands going like this being like Today's the man, wants to give you all money. You are Drake's God's plan video. You're saying one of our stereotypes is going to help save this country. Yes, very much. What's going on everybody? Welcome to a very, very special presidential episode of Fung Bro's Food. It's not every day you get to meet somebody who's running for president of the United States in 2020. We're outside of Whole Foods in the East Village. This has some of the best beef noodle soup you can find in the whole city. But first, let's meet our guy, Andrew Yang. Hey guys, great to see you. First of all, you're running for president in 2020. Second of all, you're Asian. So already, those are two things that we really got to talk about, man. This is crazy. Let's go. All right, guys, a side note. This is not an endorsement for Andrew Yang's campaign whatsoever. We just wanted to sit down and have a meal with a guy who's got some really, really interesting things to say. Enjoy the video. Okay, so we are now at Whole Foods, which is a brand new beef noodle soup spot. Andrew, please get into a little bit of your backstory. I grew up in upstate New York, went to college on the East Coast. I was an attorney for like five months and hated it. So I left and started a dot-com company. I was the CEO of a company called Manhattan Prep that was acquired by the Washington Post in 2009. And during that time, I thought, hey, we have so many smart young people becoming bankers, consultants, lawyers, and heading to Silicon Valley. What we need is more people starting businesses around the country. So I started Venture for America in 2011 to train hundreds of young entrepreneurs to start companies in Detroit, New Orleans, St. Louis, Baltimore. You're running for president of America in 2020. Yes, that's right. The United States. Yeah, the whole country. Let's talk about your Asian background real quick. My Asian upbringing was do well in school, go to law school, get a good job. And then when I quit that job, then my parents were like, whoa, what's going on here? Which you guys might have experienced too. The disappointment from our parents came a lot earlier than yours did. But eventually you can turn that disappointment around. Like my parents told people I was a lawyer for a long time. Hey, hey, hey, you're a lawyer until you're president. Pause, the food is coming through. Thank you. Hey, Rich. Shout out to Rich right here. And we want to real quick touch on how this food relates to you. This is Taiwanese comfort food. This is the all-famous and all-loved beef noodle soup. Do you know the name of this dish in Chinese? How's your Chinese? Oh my gosh, what is this in Chinese? All I know is that this was on my kitchen table. Okay, so you're not fluent in Mandarin. I got left back in Chinese school like three times. Guys, real quick about Whole Foods. This is the best beef noodle soup you can get in the city. This is really freaking good. What do you think it is in you that makes you such a more like, in a way, you're bold? Well, I was certainly not confident as a kid. I was like this scrawny little Asian kid. I skipped a grade, which made me like extra nerdy. Growing up in that environment, I felt like I needed to prove myself at every stage. And that mindset stuck with me really like forever. Where, you know, I was a lawyer doing other people's contracts. And I was like, wait, they can be entrepreneurs and I can be an entrepreneur. I can prove myself. And then when I failed as an entrepreneur, which I did because my first company totally flopped. Even though it failed, it was so much better. So it was better failing as a startup CEO than being a high paid cog in a machine. I even said to myself, like, what would it take to get me to be a lawyer again? And the only thing I could think of is that like my parents were dying. The only way I could get the money was to like go back to be a lawyer. And during that time, I was throwing Asian parties on the side to make some extra money. Well, hold on, hold on. You were being a club promoter? You're an Asian club promoter. Yeah, I had a birthday party one year. And then all these Asians I didn't know showed up. And then I was like, there's probably something to this. What is your first reaction, though, when you tell people that you're running for president? You know, I literally had people cry tears of joy when I told them I was running for president. And I've had like, what the heck are you doing? So I've had like the whole freaking reaction. I'm not sure how being Asian has played into those reactions. Because the person who cried tears of joy was like a white dude. You talk a lot about your time with Venture America, going around the country. And what did you learn about America? A lot of this country is very, very depressed. It reads like we're a country in decline. That's the vibe you get. A lot of people seem really beleaguered and downtrodden. I mean, the life expectancy in the US is actually declining, which is almost unheard of in a developed country. It's getting that bad. And it's going to get much worse. Truck driving is the most common job in 29 states around the country. And my friends in Silicon Valley are working on automating that right now. So the robots are coming. The robots are coming. Are you pro-robot, anti-robot? I'm generally pro-robot, as long as we're experiencing the benefit as a whole and as a people, instead of having it collect just with the owners of the robots. As in automation, software, AI, everything like that. And that's one of the frustrations I have, is when people think the robot's going to walk in and take your job. And until that happens, you're safe. We're pretty far away from that. Yeah, we're very, very far away from that. I feel like every candidate does have a line that they say about automation. Oh yeah, it's the same nonsense line. It's, we have to train Americans for the jobs of the future. And that stuff infuriates me, because if you look at the data, the efficacy of government retraining is between zero and 37%, which would be a fail. If you look at truck drivers, average age 49, 94% male, average education, high school or college. I mean, they didn't like school 30 years ago. There's no reason they're going to love it now. Then what's the next step? Well, they're going to be new jobs. But they're going to be in places like Seattle and New York. And they're going to be filled primarily with college graduates. And only 32% of Americans graduate from college. First, we implement a universal basic income of $1,000 a month, a freedom dividend, so that people can address their basic needs and not stress out about just living. And everybody gets it, not just poor people, right? Everybody gets it. If you're watching this, you get it. This is not welfare. This is universal. We are the richest, most abundant country in the history of the world. And we can easily afford $1,000 per person, per month. What is that $1,000 a month supposed to do? Well, one thing it's going to do is it's going to grow the economy. Because Americans right now, 59% of Americans can't pay a $500 bill. That's what it means to live check by check, right? So the hope is that they can get their heads up. And then they can start planning for the future, maybe saving a little bit. So if you're like a carpenter making like $24,000 right now, it's not like you're going to quit your job if you start getting another 12. You're going to keep it. And then you're hopefully going to reinvest it. And the Roosevelt Institute projected that this would create 4.5 million new jobs. Because people would have more money to spend in the economy. It would grow the economy by $2.5 trillion a year. It's like a permanent stimulus of humanity. Would that make inflation go up or anything like that? So there'd be some slight inflation. But if you look at your costs right now, technology makes a lot of things cheaper over time. The things that are getting more expensive are the most painful things, unfortunately. That's health care, education, housing. But technology makes a lot of the consumer goods cheaper. How much can a president shift these gigantic, almost ultra-complex trends where almost nobody can fully 100% predict the way everything plays out? So our government's not functioning very well right now. 70% of Americans right now agree that technology is destroying more jobs than it creates. And about half of Americans are for universal basic income. And that's only going to go up. So we can pass it. There's already a state that has universal basic income, and it's Alaska. Americans right now are suffering at such a massive scale that as president, I'm going to be able to get a universal basic income through. And then after that, all things will become possible. What the country needs is a different perspective, a different mode of leadership. Americans realize the system sucks and they need a new system. They're like looking around trying to figure it out. People are thanking me because they're like, man, who would even want to get into government at this point? But if we give up on government, we are screwed. Because only government can address the challenges that new technology and automation jobs are going to bring. Do you think there is in America some sort of like over reliance on like corporations? Corporate incentives are going to be to employ less and less, fewer and fewer people. You can see it right now. Why are all new employees, contractors or gig workers? Because they don't want to pay for benefits or health care. And that's not their role. Like corporations are trying to maximize their bottom line. They're not trying to maximize social well-being. Right. So you're not really blaming the corporations for looking out for their bottom line? No, no, that's their job. Right. Who we can blame is that our government and our leaders have been asleep at the switch and decades behind for a long time now. And we need to speed up to match up to the fact it's going to be 2020. And all these things are real. I mean, we're living through real life science fiction. America needs us. America needs the Asians to bring our point of view. Like I see things in terms of technology and the economy and whatnot. And, you know, I happen to be Asian. So I think that that my Asian-ness informs my perspective that this country needs us because it is losing its ****. And we need to bring what we have to the table and say, look, we get it. We know things are changing in big ways. And here's what we need to do about it. You're saying one of our stereotypes is going to help save this country? Yes, very much. If we wait for someone else to say, hey, it's your turn. We'll be waiting forever. Right. Don't rely on people to call your name. We have to step up and be like, yo, we want we want in. We want to help. We can make an impact. My wife jokes that by the end of the campaign, my icon is going to be like giant hands going like this being like a man wants to give you all money. You are Drake's God's plan video. Well, and part of this, too, is like all of the desire to try and make society more equal. Nothing is going to make society more equal than giving everyone a thousand bucks a month. First, I want to plug your book. So the book has three parts. The first is what's happening to jobs. And the second is what's happening to society. So it has all these social trends. And then the third section is solutions like universal basic income, a new digital social currency that would help encourage people to do positive things in the community. When I heard you talk about that, that was a really interesting concept. Well, yeah, you know, the social currency would be great for freaking YouTube creators, because every time someone watch your video, they'd be like a micro payment that comes your way. I guess, man, what do you what level do you hope to make it to? I think the better I do, the closer we'll come to solving the problem. That's not like I'm going to be shattered if I don't win. But we have serious problems right now as a society. And I'm a guy trying to solve the problem. So if I'm president of the best shot at solving them, if I'm not president, hopefully I'll be working with the people to solve some of these issues, because I'm a parent. I've got two young boys, and I don't want them to grow up in freaking Mad Max, which is the way we're going to head if everything I foresee starts coming to pass in the next 10, 20 years. We are going to get into the hot seat. First step to running for president. File some paperwork with the FDC. It costs like $50. Lawyer or doctor? Oh, my gosh. Well, I've been a lawyer and it sucked. So I'm going to have to say doctor. What is your favorite sport? Basketball, definitely. When you do play basketball, are you a passing guard or scoring guard? Definitely passing. Favorite food dish in the world? I love that sticky rice dessert. Favorite NFL team? New York Jets, it's really sad to say. Favorite NBA team? Oh, my gosh. I was a Knicks fan through and through the whole freaking time. And then after they did Jeremy Lin wrong, I said, like, I can't support these guys anymore. So now I'm a Brooklyn Nets fan. What do you think is the benefit, one benefit and one con, of you having no formal political, American political experience? Dude, I know all these politicians and they feel so stuck. So the fact that I'm coming in fresh and I don't have, like, a million people I owe favors to, that's what we need. I mean, we have big problems in this country right now. We need someone who just wants to solve the problems and doesn't care about who, like, who gave you money or, like, who has what agenda. Favorite rapper ever? Jay-Z. Had to go with Jay-Z. What do you think about the model minority myth? You know, there are Asians, particularly from different communities, that are struggling from the get-go. So, you know, it's not great for us that there's a model minority myth, but the extent it exists, we have to try and use it and to take advantage of it. For those people out there who are kind of like, they don't want you to be, like, only a pro-Asian ethnic candidate, but will you give them anything or you're like, no, that's not what I'm about? Like, I'm a very proud Asian-American. You know, my wife's Asian, my kids are Asian. Like, I think my perspective lines up with the Asian-American community on most things. What's one thing that you wish Obama did differently? You know, I met the guy a few times. There were times when he should have gotten angry, but did not. And I think that he was not able to get angry because you have, like, an angry black dude president and people are like, whoa! So he was like, Mr. Cool all the time. But there were times when we needed it. I've heard you in one interview, someone was like, so what is your stance on all those social issues? And you said, probably what you think they are. Like, I was being sort of glib with that journalist, but like, it was sort of me thinking it's like, I'm like a liberal, urban, educated Asian guy. And like, the things that you imagine, I believe. You're all about taking out the factors, deleting the factors that will create more tension. You know, we gotta be real. Like, I see myself as like a super practical guy. And we gotta recognize what we can and can't do. Let's make it real. Let's show them what we can do. This country needs us and we need to step up. So thank you guys so much for having me. It was a blast. Thank you so much for watching that video. If you guys want more information about Andrew Yang and what he's doing, we'll leave some links down below. I just want to reiterate, this was not a paid endorsement at all. You just came out. You had stuff to say. Shout out to Rich Ho over at Ho Foods. Best Taiwanese beef noodle soup you can get in a city. It is delicious. In America. That was the Fun Bros. We're with Andrew Yang. He's running for president in 2020. We're in New York City. And until next time, we out. Peace. Hey, what's up guys? This is Richard. You know, we do Taiwanese comfort food, source wealth. Just want to bring a taste of Taiwan to everyone in New York City. And we'll see you guys around.