Watch Obama 's Full Remarks The Gates Foundation via YouTube . 
Obama argued that crime , teen birth , dropout , poverty and uninsured rates are all down ; and that the share of those with college degrees is up , as are median incomes and life expectancies . 
Former President Barack Obama delivered a rebuke of President Trump 's "America First" worldview Wednesday in New York , the same city where Trump is meeting with world leaders on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly . 
"All of this has happened in such a steady march that sometimes we have a tendency to take it for granted ," Obama said . 
"You have to start with a premise and believe that multilateral institutions and efforts are important ," Obama said , "and you do n't have to cede all your sovereignty and it does n't make you less patriotic to believe that . 
Obama hat-tipped to that rising feeling of grievance as a critical problem in the world , describing it as "the rise of nationalism and xenophobia and a politics that says it 's not ` we ' but ` us and them , ' a politics that threatens to turn people away from the kind of collective action that 's always driven human progress ." 
Though he did not name Trump during his speech and a question-and-answer session that followed , Obama argued against a dark and pessimistic world outlook . 
"We have to reject the notion that we are suddenly gripped by forces that we can not control ," Obama said at a Goalkeepers conference , a gathering of young , international activists sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation -LRB- which is among NPR 's financial supporters -RRB- ."
Watch Obama 's Full Remarks The Gates Foundation via YouTube . 
Obama argued that crime , teen birth , dropout , poverty and uninsured rates are all down ; and that the share of those with college degrees is up , as are median incomes and life expectancies . 
Former President [TGT] delivered a rebuke of President Trump 's "America First" worldview Wednesday in New York , the same city where Trump is meeting with world leaders on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly . 
"All of this has happened in such a steady march that sometimes we have a tendency to take it for granted ," Obama said . 
"You have to start with a premise and believe that multilateral institutions and efforts are important ," Obama said , "and you do n't have to cede all your sovereignty and it does n't make you less patriotic to believe that . 
Obama hat-tipped to that rising feeling of grievance as a critical problem in the world , describing it as "the rise of nationalism and xenophobia and a politics that says it 's not ` we ' but ` us and them , ' a politics that threatens to turn people away from the kind of collective action that 's always driven human progress ." 
Though he did not name Trump during his speech and a question-and-answer session that followed , Obama argued against a dark and pessimistic world outlook . 
"We have to reject the notion that we are suddenly gripped by forces that we can not control ," Obama said at a Goalkeepers conference , a gathering of young , international activists sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation -LRB- which is among NPR 's financial supporters -RRB- ."