登上洛奇台阶：美国总统候选人杨安泽在费城

2019年9月17日是一个天高气爽的秋天，一个历史性的时刻， 一个百年不遇，让华人华侨杨（扬）眉吐气的日子。

这一天，费城艺术博物馆门前宽广的洛奇台阶（Rocky Steps）上，迎来了历史性的人物， 2020年美国民主党总统候选人杨安泽！

原本于7月20日到访费城（前文：登上美国梦的台阶：从洛奇、史泰龙，到杨安泽），由于记录性高温天气的原因， 杨安泽团队基于对杨帮们身心健康的考虑（人性者，乃安泽）， 推迟到今天， 华人华侨杨帮和大费城地区的“杨群”们一样， 对他的费城之行是早已期待已久， 迫不及待。

我们费城“杨帮”微信群， 也不失时机的呼吁当地华人华侨，社区民众积极参加这次集会， 为杨安泽竞选总统助威、呐喊、造势。

我到现场第一眼看到就是杨安泽团队最得力的竞选集资捐款大师 — 孙晓光先生。这是我第二次有幸见到他。精明， 麻利， 忙个不停， 集会活动准备一切尽在掌控之中， 早早为杨安泽出场，演讲做好了准备，让人佩服！

参加这次集会是我第一次非常近距离接触杨安泽，这种体验与脸书，微信，油管以及网络上面的视听接触截然不同。

看上去他就是一个普普通通的亚裔美国人，平易近人，善解人意。一下座驾，跑步上前， 好像见到分别已久的老朋友，和等待已久的杨帮们握手， High Five，不间断的和大家自拍留念。

傍晚6点多钟集会的人数达到了顶峰， 挤满了台阶和马路之间的全部空间。数十名年轻的志愿者们手拿各种竞选标语牌， 歇斯底里般的欢呼着， 跳跃着。

杨帮的欢呼声把集会推向了高潮：杨安泽精神抖擞， 敏捷的跑上讲台， 滔滔不绝的和杨帮们分享着他的执政纲领，从UBI到全民医疗， 从自动化到第四次工业革命， 亚马逊到脸书的逃税漏税。

杨安泽的竞选纲领是所有候选人当中最为全面，详细， 而且已经在他的网站公布于众。

杨安泽纲领与其他参选人的最根本的区别在于他以UBI为核心的人性化的资本主义， 他对普通公民的关注具有普世价值 ，正在让越来越多的美国民众觉醒，特别是他提出的第4次工业革命的的原动力，即各行各业的自动化进程不可阻挡，是美国人民面临的最大的挑战。

当老牌民主党和共和党人还在花时间纠结自己的再次当选的时候，他们想到的都是自己，不是普通民众。老牌民主党， 共和党已经不具备这种事业胸怀， 失去了方向。

而杨安泽看到的却是这个国家正在面临的严峻的挑战， 以及对国民生活，经济的重大影响。他对于工业自动化对中下层人民的生活将要造成的严重的挫折瞭如指掌。从密苏里到宾州，从密西根到加州， 自动化引发的工人失业大潮已经来临。

正是他的充满人性的UBI作为一种基本国策，为应对这种冲击做好了准备。

杨安泽的每一次演讲， 每一句话，正感动和转化每一个听到他的名字的人 。

费城杨帮和全美各地的杨帮一样， 是美国社会的缩影，就是在这个杨（羊）群里，不管是亚裔、华裔、西裔， 还是白人、黑人，大家都非常的友好，见面相互击掌、问候。

也可能因为大家都在同一条船上， 支持的是同一个候选人，也有同样的对国家的担忧和责任感，所以杨安泽正能量的人格、人性自然而然的感染了这个“杨群”的每一个人， 小到儿童，大到退休老人，大家好像是多年不见的老朋友一样， 互相鼓舞，对美国的明天充满希望。

“杨群”之中，最值得一提的是一对夫妻带来的四岁的女儿。他们动手亲自为她定做了一个挺杨的“杨牌“。这个“小杨帮”被人发现后， 立即成为到场媒体人的关注的重点对象。我相信她很快或者已经成为网上的一个挺杨大明星了。学习民主、参政，责无旁贷，从小做起， 这对夫妻给我们华人华侨做出了非常好的榜样。

虽然黑头发黄皮肤的杨帮相对较少，让人些许失望， 但是由于血缘的天然联系， 到场的华人杨帮们格外活跃， 包括当地的社区积极分子。我们相信没有到场的杨帮们也在用另一种方式关注着这个热情高昂的集会。

四年的川普当政， 短视又鲁莽， 美国也因此处于一个非常时期， 非常时期的国家就需要一个非常的人物来带领我们走出低谷，共同面临挑战。 

杨安泽就是这个非常人物！

他身为第二代移民， 虽然已经拥有自己成功的业绩， 但是从小受到这个国家教育的他， 拥有了更广阔的胸怀。他对于中下层国民的生活的窘迫了如指掌， 对于新老移民所面临的歧视与挑战， 更有切身体会。这就使得杨安泽拥有独特的性格和优良素质， 他与国民的距离最近， 没有携带任何特殊利益的沉重包袱。

川普在2016的当选是少数美国人的一种意外收获，但是他也成为了绝大多数美国人的一种精神包袱， 因为川普已经把这个国家带入了歧途， 正在与美国的宪法和建国宗旨背道而驰， 越走越远。

杨安泽具有理智，前瞻性的视野， 尤其是发现和解决问题的能力， 简称MATH，已经感动了相当一部分川普的支持者， 这部分人可能最终是决定下次大选的关键所在。 

因为杨泽具备了这种优势，所以赢得民主党提名将是一种非常明智的选择。希望民主党元老们以大局为重，打破旧框框， 争取打败川普， 民主党重新做白宫主人。

- 本文来源于“费城灯塔信鸽”公众号 -

附：活动英文报道

Andrew Yang bounded up the Art Museum steps, arms stretched overhead, as several hundred supporters waved “MATH” signs.

For an hour, the crowd would chant “Math! Math! Math!” whenever Yang mentioned data and roar at his promise that the State of the Union in his presidency would include a PowerPoint presentation with better metrics.

“This is the nerdiest campaign in presidential history,” Yang said as curious runners circumnavigated the crowd.

Yang, 44, is an entrepreneur who has risen to the middle of the pack and stayed there. While governors and senators have dropped out, unable to meet polling or fund-raising thresholds for debate airtime, Yang has hit each benchmark, fueled by his huge network of online supporters. And he’s one of the few candidates to gain ground in polls.

His campaign style is a conversational economics lesson interlaced with humor. His candidacy is built on the theory that the millions of jobs lost to automation (think kiosks in drugstores and airports) led to the sense of frustration and instability among Americans that was linked to President Donald Trump’s election.

He paints a gloomy picture of what automation will do to the future job market and offers a solution: a freedom dividend for every American over the age of 18.

“The first time you heard of me you probably heard, ‘Hey, there’s an Asian man running for president who wants to give everyone $1,000 a month.’ Remember that, Philadelphia?” he said. “And ... you thought it was a joke.”

The idea of a dividend, Yang argues, is one Thomas Paine and Martin Luther King Jr. and hundreds of economists have supported. Alaska gives its citizens $1,000 to $2,000 a year. He says he’d pay for his policy with a tax on tech companies like Amazon.

On the debate stage last week Yang tried to drum up attention for the idea by announcing he’d give 10 families $1,000 a month from his campaign for a full year.

Some of his rivals scoffed. Election-law experts have questioned whether the move would be legal (Yang’s campaign has said lawyers have assured them it is). But after the Sept. 12 debate, his campaign raised $1 million in less than a week. More than 450,000 people have signed up to enter the contest — which means hundreds of thousands of email addresses for campaign mailing lists. He told reporters after the rally the chosen families, selected at random, would be announced next week.

For Yang supporters the freedom dividend represents what they could do if they weren’t living on tight margins.

“Pay off my student loans!” “Open my own business!” “Day care!” people shouted when Yang asked how they’d use the money.

Yang drew a crowd of about 400, mostly younger, faithful supporters who clearly do their homework. When he discussed the need to replace GDP as the measurement of economic success, he said U.S. life expectancy had dropped three years in a row for the first time ... "since when?”

“1918!” many shouted (correctly).

“That’s right, 1918, the year that the Spanish flu, a global pandemic, killed millions,” he said.

“I’ve never seen a candidate who sees the issues and responds to them in a way that is not just these platitudes,” said Nikhil Lakhani, 21, a senior at the University of Pennsylvania and a founder of the Philly Yang Gang. “He doesn’t just say, ‘Oh here’s an anecdote.’ He says, ‘Here’s the data.’ ”

Yang’s supporters, Lakhani said, appreciate that in a political era when emotions often eclipse facts.

Many in the crowd said Yang is refreshing. He’s unapologetically himself — with a tendency toward self-deprecating humor. Videos of him doing the Cupid Shuffle and crowd surfing have gone viral. He says he’s the opposite of Donald Trump: “An Asian guy who’s good at math.” (Those MATH hats stand for Make America Think Harder.)

Some of his humor about being Asian hasn’t always landed. In the last debate, while discussing health care, he cracked that he “knows a lot of doctors," sparking criticism that he propagates stereotypes.

“I think Americans are very smart and that they can actually see right through that kind of myth and, if anything, by poking fun at it, I’m making Americans reflect a bit more,” Yang said on CNN.

He also came to the defense of fired SNL comic Shane Gillis, who had made jokes about Asians, including Yang. Gillis shouldn’t have lost his job, Yang said. “I believe that our country has become excessively punitive and vindictive about remarks that people find offensive or racist," he said.

Conan Liu, 26, a medical student at Jefferson, said he thinks Yang’s humor is part of his appeal. “I think the majority of people know he’s joking. He’s not trying to stereotype Asians, he’s just playing off typical expectations." Liu said Yang’s humor makes it “easier to get into the math.” He thinks the monthly $1,000 could help people offset medical bills.

Yang, raised in Upstate New York, was CEO of a Manhattan test-prep company that he sold to Kaplan in 2009. He created Venture for America, to place recent college graduates in start-ups in struggling cities.

“The people that do support him go all in,” said Brittany Anderson, 26, the volunteer regional campaign director in Pennsylvania, which has six “Yang Gangs.”

“The more we spread awareness of who he is and his unique ideas, I think the game has a high chance of shifting.”

(The Philadelphia Inquirer)

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