Andrew Yang: UBI Before UHI, Solving Job Loss, and the Future of Work | #236

Peter Diamandis (0:00)

Given the advances of AI and robotics, we're going to have something called Universal High Income.

Andrew Yang (0:05)

I'm not sure how you get to Universal High Income without a major... As dysfunctional as I thought our political system was, it's even worse. This fourth industrial revolution is the most dramatic thing that's happened to our society in history. We're here in 2026 I do think the jobs are going to get whisked away.

Dave Blundin (0:27)

So you're going to have rampant social unrest if we don't do something quick.

Andrew Yang (0:31)

DC is on a multi-decade tape delay. You have, like you said, the rate of change just accelerating all the time. And so what's gone from an inconvenient tape delay is now a catastrophic one.

Salim Ismail (0:42)

The disintegration of the social contract is the most important conversation that we could be having.

Peter Diamandis (0:48)

What's the advice for someone in college today or someone, a junior, senior in high school?

Andrew Yang (0:53)

The only career path you can rely on is entrepreneurship and owning your own future and path. But a lot of people aren't cut out for that.

Peter Diamandis (1:03)

Now that's the Moonshot, ladies and gentlemen.

Everybody, welcome to Moonshots, another episode of WTF Just Happened in Tech. Here with my Moonshot mates, DB2, Dr. EXO and AWG. And here with a friend of the pod, a dear friend of mine, Andrew Yang. Andrew, good morning to you.

Andrew Yang (1:24)

Hey, Peter. Thanks for having me. It's a pleasure to be here.

Peter Diamandis (1:27)

Are you in the West Coast?

Andrew Yang (1:28)

East Coast.

Peter Diamandis (1:30)

All right.

Andrew Yang (1:30)

Yeah. So for me, this is a better time than you guys.

Peter Diamandis (1:33)

Well, everybody else is in the East Coast. That's why no one complained about a 6 a.m. start this morning. We're excited to have this conversation, a lot going on. For us, this is a conversation on typically AI and exponential technologies, how we get people ready for the future. And one of the things we're talking about in the future is the changes that are coming and the potential for social unrest. How do we deal with the changing social contract? We're going to talk about UBI, UHI, a number of different subjects. Everybody, if you don't know Andrew, entrepreneur extraordinaire, 2020 US presidential candidate, which really put him on the main scene, leading advocate for universal basic income, founder of Humanity Forward and the Forward Party, and a national voice about A.I.'s impact on jobs and the middle class. We get a lot of conversations, a lot of questions around, how does all this conversation around AI.,

crypto, robotics apply to me? How does it apply to me if I'm not in the VC business, if I'm not a tech entrepreneur? I want to dive into that. So, let's jump in. Andrew, I'm going to start with a conversation about UBI versus UHI. When Dave and I were interviewing Elon at the beginning of 26, one of the conversations that came up was his theory that, no, we're not going to have a universal basic income. Given the advances of AI and robotics, we're going to have something called universal high income. Let me play this short clip from our conversation, which went a little bit in unintended or unexpected direction. How do we go towards universal high income instead of social unrest? One or both.

Salim Ismail (3:31)

Have universal high income and social unrest.

Andrew Yang (3:34)

That's my prediction.

Peter Diamandis (3:35)

Well, that will make for a lot of problems.

Dave Blundin (3:37)

Is that your actual prediction? Yeah, yeah, seems likely.

Peter Diamandis (3:42)

Andrew, reaction to that, pal?

Andrew Yang (3:44)

I'm not sure how you get to universal high income without major political realignment. And I'd suggest that universal basic income would probably have to come first. It would be like an intermediate step. And one of the things I'd love to unpack with Elon is how he thinks we get from here to there. And also how this interacts with the person that's asking the question. Like, let's say you're a 50 year old middle manager at a Fortune 500 company that's worried that your job is going to disappear. You might have a mortgage, you might have two kids. And then how does that person wind up with a robot doing all their chores and money flowing in such that they can bring their family out to a nice meal at will? You know, like the path to me is what's important because we're here in 2026 I do think the jobs are going to get whisked away in a lot of these firms. And that family is real. I mean, I grew up with folks who right now are deeply concerned that they're going to lose their job and they very well might don't have a huge safety net or pool of savings. Maybe they have a kid who's, you know, primed to go to college. And then that's another part of it is like, hey, what's college for? You know, if I'm saving up $250, $300,000 for my child to go to university, are they going to get a job afterwards? Are they just going to come right back and live with me? So those are the questions that I hear every day.