Secretary Pete Buttigieg: The American Dream Is DEAD. We're Running Out Of Time To Fix It!

**Pete Buttigieg** (0:00)
I'm really worried about where we're headed as a country. Right now, American system is so out of whack that if you are a multi-billionaire, you probably pay a lower percentage in taxes than if you're a school teacher or a firefighter. You have levels of inequality that we've almost never seen. There's a rise in political violence, the collapse in trust, and the biggest thing wrong that we're facing right now is this massive debt. But it's now escalated to a level that no one can ignore.

**Steven Bartlett** (0:25)
How do you think this plays out?

**Pete Buttigieg** (0:26)
I mean, we're on the brink of losing our democracy, and we're running out of time to do something about it.

**Steven Bartlett** (0:32)
Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Trump made a lot of promises when he came into power, keen to get your perspective on the Iran war.

**Pete Buttigieg** (0:38)
So the president can't explain why we're there. There's a lot of reasons to suspect that we're just at war because he wanted us to. And now I can't figure out how to get us out of it. Troops have lost their lives, prices are higher, you're paying more for gas, for food, for mortgages because of this war. And so the next president will be doing this at a big disadvantage because so many relationships with our allies have been burned.

**Steven Bartlett** (0:58)
So I am keen to get your perspective on the AI, good, bad. Should we implement a wealth tax? Is there anything you respect about Trump but also greater Israel, for example? What does Netanyahu want in the region? And then were you the first person in a presidential candidate to be openly gay?

**Pete Buttigieg** (1:13)
Definitely the first person who's considered to have a shot. And when I finally made peace with this reality that I was gay, I was well into my 20s because I wanted so bad for it not to be true.
I'd like to believe we'll get to a day when it's just not a thing. No one cares.

**Steven Bartlett** (1:36)
Secretary Pete Buttigieg, are you going to run to be president in 2028?
Guys, I've got a favor to ask before this episode begins. The algorithm, if you follow a show, will deliver you the best episodes from that show very prominently in your feed. When we have our best episodes on this show, the most shared episodes, the most rated episodes, I would love you to know. The simple way for you to know that is to hit that follow button. But also, it's the simple, easy, free thing that you can do to help us make this show better. I would be hugely grateful if you could take a minute on the app you're listening to this on right now and hit that follow button. Thank you so, so, so much. Secretary Pete Buttigieg, how are you feeling about the nature of politics at the moment? But I should probably say the nature of American life at the moment.

**Pete Buttigieg** (2:27)
I'm really worried about where we're headed as a country. I think in many ways, our entire existence has been about creating a different kind of political system and introducing it to the world. That's what we're about. Now, that whole project is in question. That whole project is, in my view, it's on the brink.

**Steven Bartlett** (2:43)
On the brink?

**Pete Buttigieg** (2:44)
Yeah.

**Steven Bartlett** (2:45)
What do you mean by that?

**Pete Buttigieg** (2:46)
I mean, we're on the brink of losing our democracy. The whole idea of this country, the whole idea of overthrowing a king, was that everyday life would get better if we set up a country where the people are in charge of the government instead of the other way around. Now, in this moment, where after all of the things we've gone through for decades, for 250 years, it's not clear if that's going to work out. I think it will, I believe it will, if we do what we have to do.
But that means reforming, tuning up, changing that political system, because the problems in that political system help to explain all of the economic problems that I think so many Americans are living with, where you've had enormous economic growth and shockingly little of it making it into people's pockets, where you have levels of inequality that we've almost never seen in this country. And then the other thing is, there's the American promise in terms of the system, the politics, the government, democracy, the America's gift to the world, creating democracy. But there's the economic version of that, which is the American dream, right? The idea that no matter how you start, no matter who you are, you can come out ahead of where you started economically. That used to happen for nine out of ten Americans. Statistically, the place where you're most likely to live out the American dream right now is Denmark.