We Have to Redefine What Makes America Great | Sen. Bernie Sanders and Joe Rogan

Now, when we're talking about impoverished communities and chronically, when you're talking about cities like Baltimore or parts of Chicago and Detroit that have just been in a terrible state of despair for long periods of time and it doesn't seem like there's a way out, the people that are born there, the people that live there, they live in this state of despair. What can be done to resolve all of these terribly impoverished communities and bring them up to a standard where these kids that grow up there, they feel like there is an out, that they do have an opportunity. Why is this not addressed when we talk about making America great? Wouldn't fixing the worst parts of the country be the primary concern? The less people that grow up in a terribly disadvantageous position from birth, wouldn't that be an important thing and what can you do to resolve that? Well, Joe, I think you said it better than I can. I think you're right. When we talk about what it means to live in a great society, a great nation, a nation that we're proud of, I'm afraid there are some people who have incredible wealth and power who say, you know what's great? It's that we're seeing a growth in the number of billionaires in America. Isn't that terrific? And we've got one guy who's worth $155 billion. How great? Anyway, we're building more nuclear weapons and we're spending $750 billion a year on the military. Isn't that extraordinary? And by the way, do you see the yacht that that billionaire has? You know, it's three miles long. Isn't that great? Your point is that we have to, I think as I understand what you're saying, we have to redefine what being a great nation is about. We are not a great nation when we have 40 million people living in poverty and in despair. We're not a great nation when we have massive levels of income and wealth inequality, when 87 million people can afford to go to a doctor today. So to answer your question, I think that as a nation, we have got to focus a great deal of attention on those distressed communities. Often they're African-American, often they're Latino, often they are rural white communities. And that means making sure that the kids there get the quality education that they deserve, making sure that we're creating good paying jobs in those communities. I voted against NAFTA, permanent normal trade relations with China and other trade agreements because I knew that those agreements were written by corporate America with the goal of shutting down plants in this country and moving abroad. And the result of that has been the loss of millions of good paying jobs and the complete destruction of communities all across this country, in the south and all across this country. So we have got to rebuild those communities. We have got to bring high-tech jobs, not just to Silicon Valley, but to rural America again. I don't have magical answers, but the goal is we will not, under a Sanders administration, turn our backs on distressed communities. We will rebuild those communities. We will build the millions of units of affordable housing that we need. Now think about what it means to a community now where people are living in terrible housing or housing they cannot afford. When we put young people to work rebuilding their own communities, will that become an indication of hope and optimism? I think it will.