The U.S. at 250: The case for reckoning and rebuild, with Ian Bremmer

**SPEAKER_1** (0:01)
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**Ian Bremmer** (2:19)
We have something to celebrate, and that is that we have been successful for 250 years with this most unlikely human experiment. And to fix it, we're going to have to change a bunch of things, but you still come together. Patriotism in this country is having the courage not just to say, I love my country, but having the courage to publicly say when your country is f***ing up. That's what patriotism is.
And we need patriotic Americans to do precisely that now, because it matters.

**Bob Safian** (2:56)
That's Ian Bremmer, political scientist, president of the Eurasia Group, and advisor to business leaders and political leaders all around the globe. As we head toward the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States, I wanted to talk with Ian about the state of brand America at a time of intense disruption.
Just before we started recording, Ian got an impromptu call from US. Senator John Ossoff as if to underscore his deep contacts. In this episode, Ian argues that Americans are in a revolutionary mood right now and that that is a positive. He critiques the wealth divide in the US and the opportunity lapses, and he certainly has no great love for President Trump. But his advice to businesses and to all of us, it isn't partisan, it's practical. And it will get you thinking about what the US needs to extend its great experiment another 250 years. So let's get to it. I'm Bob Safian, and this is Rapid Response.
I'm Bob Safian. I'm here with Ian Bremmer, President of Eurasia Group and host of GZERO World on PBS. Ian, welcome back to Rapid Response.

**Ian Bremmer** (4:08)
Good to see you, Bob. It's been a while.

**Bob Safian** (4:09)
Yeah, so we're nearing the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4th, the United States of America's 250th birthday, celebrations, festivities gearing up, but it's also a moment of intense change, technological, economic, political. I'm eager to get your assessment of the health of the US at 250 years old. I mean, judging by record high stock market, things seem quite rosy.
Is that the right barometer to look at?

**Ian Bremmer** (4:39)
It would be bad if that was the only barometer you were looking at. I mean, look, I think most Americans aren't sure what their country stands for.
We now lionize, even worship money in this country more than any other thing. In my view, that's pretty far from what is sustainable. It's also making people angrier. It's making, certainly, people feel much more stressed and anxious about themselves, their future, their kids. As a political scientist, of course, I think the fact that American power continues to be projected globally in ways that other countries cannot certainly matters. We've got the best entrepreneurs, we got the best universities, we got these extraordinary market returns, technology, defense, all of that stuff.
But that's not, I mean, when you're in your deathbed, that's not what really matters to you in terms of your life and your history, and it's also not the reason why I think a lot of Americans care so much about their country. So I think we need to go bigger than that.