Another election year is almost upon us, and with it a plethora of democratic candidates pledging their run for presidency. It can be incredibly difficult to distinguish between them all, many have the same policies and many share the same point of view. However, there is one candidate that stands out more than the rest, and it is a name you probably haven't heard. Andrew Yang. The former lawyer and extremely successful entrepreneur has probably the most detailed plan for the future of the country, backed by research and experience.

Born in Schenectady, New York, Yang was a first generation Taiwanese immigrant to brilliant parents. His mother and father both attended UC Berkeley for graduate school and his father is the owner of almost 70 US patents, and Andrew was quick to fill those shoes. Graduating from Brown University with an economics degree and further going on to graduate from Columbia Law School. He then went on to work on many startups that did not see much success until he founded Venture for America, with the goal "to create economic opportunity in American cities by mobilizing the next generation of entrepreneurs and equipping them with the skills and resources they need to create jobs." which rose to booming success, earning him the White House Champion of Change award from the Obama administration. This experience has given Andrew Yang the necessary arsenal to make a serious run at a presidency.

There are dozens of policies listed on his website www.yang2020.com, however I want to highlight some of the few that help him stand out from the rest. From his work in the tech sector in silicon valley, Andrew learned a lot about automation and artificial intelligence (AI) and the effects it will have on our job reliant economy. It is no secret that many jobs are going to be replaced by advanced AI in the coming future. There are many states where truck driving is the most popular job, which may be completely eliminated with the introduction of self-driving cars. One of the remedies of this that Yang has introduced is the "Freedom Dividend" which is an opt-in program to receive a stipend of $1000 the spend however you see fit, also known as Universal Basic Income (UBI) which he says will give people the peace of mind to pursue endeavors they enjoy or to help raise their kids. However, this also comes with a restructuring of current entitlement programs such as welfare. This is his biggest policy proposal, however there are some others that stand out, such as: stopping wasting money on manufacturing pennies, 4 weeks mandatory family leave, right to privacy, election day being a holiday, legalizing marijuana, decriminalizing opioids, actively combating the opioid crisis, term limits for supreme court justices, reducing the cost of higher education, "every cop gets a camera," and cracking down on political corruption, among many other policies. It is clear that Andrew Yang wants to see the change in government we have all wanted. Although there are some policies I personally disagree with, no matter what side of the aisle you are on, it's time to cut through the bureaucracy and finally move forward.

Not backed by any major corporations, Yang's campaign is a true grassroots effort to try to bring about necessary change in modernizing the country. We are the most wealthy and powerful nation in the world, and I believe we need a campaign like Andrew Yang's to bring us into the future.