USA
Demographics
![Living Through Revolutionary Times](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/60cff82e-c3c8-4fe2-b494-02e919e39717/53814929313_3bf477bfa9_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=2430%2C267%2C2192%2C2192&w=290)
Revolutions in technology, politics and economics bring progress — but they also invite backlash. Fareed Zakaria discusses the rise of the modern republic through the Industrial Revolution to the age of globalization, and the reemergence of great power politics.
![Is America Due for a Third Founding?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/6874200e-8497-4909-820e-1560b4d07526/53813331777_b9beb549db_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1608%2C11%2C4630%2C4629&w=290)
We the people were not truly “We the People” until the Reconstruction amendments altered our Constitution in a post-Civil War "second founding". As we confront another democratic crisis, what new understandings could ensure our democratic renewal?
![American Inequality? Not So Fast!](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/7974ef2d-b869-48e9-9a56-2d04bf4010c1/53013425324_84b3b8f02b_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=975%2C0%2C3758%2C3758&w=290)
If one dives deeply into the statistics, the American Dream is actually quite alive and well. In his provocative book, The Myth of American Inequality, former U.S. senator Phil Gramm argues that the facts reveal a very different and better America than the one currently described by policy advocates across much of the political spectrum.
![America’s New Frontier](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/0ad554d3-8091-4f12-aa2a-b4aaceb8f3b7/53014389803_85147ffa84_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
Join John Hamre, CEO of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, for a dynamic exploration of the transformational forces that will shape the global community throughout the 21st century. Unpacking critical mega-trends like global demographics, water stress and food security, the energy transition, technological disruption, and geopolitics, Hamre examines the fa...
![Inclusive Climate Resilience](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/f98f6980-868f-4d9a-a5cf-b3b624fe2026/230627_climate_resilence_012.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=0%2C666%2C2667%2C2667&w=290)
Join Deloitte, University of Colorado Boulder, and Aspen Institute experts for a conversation at the intersection of cutting-edge research and inclusive innovation on climate resilience. As severe weather and climate-driven natural disasters become the new norm, find out how to reduce climate-related risks across geographies and demographics. Presented by Deloitte
![Presented by California Health Care Foundation: Health Equity with a Latino Lens](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/7d519b78-0d99-4a50-a6ed-e10a43e9002e/230623_health_equity_017.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=666%2C0%2C2667%2C2667&w=290)
As the second largest minority group in the country, Latinos represent 19% of the population and play a significant economic, social, and cultural role. They also face disproportionate health challenges, including high rates of diabetes, obesity, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease. The absence of adequate health insurance, lack of timely access to care, language barr...
![America's Next Manifest Destiny](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/1bc83f72-24b5-4172-964f-f42d80a37701/Plenary2b.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=688%2C0%2C1614%2C1614&w=290)
Migration stories are in the news, but they’re not new. In the 19th century, manifest destiny inspired millions of settlers to move westward across the American continent. What are the forces that will uproot Americans in the 21st century? Join Parag Khanna, the author of “MOVE: The Forces Uprooting Us,” for a fascinating look at the deep trends influencing the future of h...
![Rural Mythticism: Fake News about Rural America](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null386d57bf-10cf-43d9-9603-1bfe6bc9bb31/48152530477_67cea81f09_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=294%2C0%2C1010%2C1010&w=290)
Rural America has come to the nation’s attention. But much discussion in the media and coffee shops, at conferences and dinner tables, relies on incorrect or no data, largely idyllic or dystopic tropes and images, and opinion uninformed by rural experience. The full picture of rural America is quite different. It has gained population in the last two years. Agriculture emp...
![America’s Next Golden Age: Building the Middle Class of the Future](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nullec588d50-b7dc-44a1-a726-a03fa1250006/America_Next_Golden_Age_aif19.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=558%2C0%2C1444%2C1444&w=290)
While incomes are rising, there are questions about gains in short-term financial stability and long-term wealth creation for the majority of America’s working households. Related, there have been debates about the connection between the demise of the middle class and how this could threaten our overall economy and democracy. How can we create a new golden age of middle-cl...
![Reaching Rural Populations](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/nulld4a92c83-d808-4dde-acb7-6d41a59b7699/48114705942_44642b1500_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=904%2C0%2C3600%2C3600&w=290)
In thinly populated regions that stretch over vast territories, primary care is often a long journey from home and specialty services may be completely out of reach. Access to care in some isolated communities may be further complicated by cultural or language barriers, limited transportation networks, and poverty. But advocates working in the rural space are talking solut...
![Bias in Big Data and Artificial Intelligence](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/62d893ec-9a24-4602-894f-03d518268317/43160992521_eee0e4ee69_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1376%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
More and more, the decisions that rule our lives are made by algorithms. From the news we see in our feeds, to whether or not we qualify for a mortgage, to the rates we pay for health insurance. And while there are demonstrable biases against marginalized communities caused by algorithms, some say the machines are innocent — they’re just doing math. But as more systems rel...
![The Age of Euroscepticism](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d022cfe3-5d7a-48d7-8565-242f8ad38745/42210184505_3a229bf151_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=530%2C0%2C1939%2C1939&w=290)
The grand European experiment of a shared currency, economy, and joint governance — a Nobel Peace Prize-worthy idea that has kept the continent at peace longer than ever before — today faces unprecedented tests, including Brexit, terrorism, a new anti establishment government in Italy, and rising nationalism fueled (at least in part) by a flood of immigrants from the Syria...
![Can Americans Resist the Pull of Tribalism?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/e0e13fa6-3145-4abd-9109-6d6a9bef62d6/29242854608_e883957f4f_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1376%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
Humans are tribal. But in America today, the allure of tribalism takes us down one treacherous path after another. American political elites have ignored the group identities that matter most to ordinary Americans. Identity politics have seized both the left and right in an especially dangerous, racially inflected way to the point that every group now feels threatened. To...
![How Relevant is Washington (Outside of Washington)?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/8aad7464-1821-4bbb-a337-feb2bb91951b/29201247728_6ae85cb9c8_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=557%2C0%2C1886%2C1886&w=290)
Congress’s approval ratings are in the gutter, local candidates routinely campaign against Washington, and voter turnout for national elections rarely tops 60 percent. Politicians can be counted on to campaign against all things Washington and claim outsider status whenever possible. Yet our national media outlets cover the ups and downs of DC on a nonstop, 24-hour cycle....
![Defining 'American' in a Changing Nation](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/5d4a03ce-0cc4-451e-8b16-fc8d04dcf766/41257729120_c0b0161fa5_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1376%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
As the US ceases to be a white majority country (a demographic milestone we’re expected to reach by 2020), how will we as a society define what it means to be American — and who gets to decide? With increasing backlash against those seen as not belonging, how do we advance a national dialogue on American identity that considers the increasingly diverse and complex makeup o...
![Do the Democrats Have What It Takes to Win Big in 2018 — and 2020?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/3c7bd8f4-6ca4-4856-9c77-17a63a4c23de/41217595050_ccfbb99a4d_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1120%2C0%2C4480%2C4480&w=290)
Midterms are often seen as the first nationwide referendum on a first-term president. Donald Trump’s ratings have ranged from low to medium-low, but a “blue wave” of victories is far from guaranteed this fall. Where Democrats strive for inclusiveness with regard to race, gender, and immigration status, critics see “identity politics,” and successfully fending off that crit...
![Census 2020: What’s at Stake, and Why Now is the Time to Care](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/0a3b3d9d-3f87-4308-8e4d-4bcd5c1e7469/42973491942_2ceae9c197_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=1376%2C0%2C5504%2C5504&w=290)
With a dramatically reduced budget, a new system for categorizing race, an unprecedented proposal to count only American citizens, and a move to all-digital implementation (that’s right, no more knocks on the door), the plan for the 2020 Census has many policymakers and close observers deeply concerned. Changes like these, combined with the charged political climate around...
![Restoring the American Dream Through Big Data](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/90b35255-af37-416c-845d-9eabc6b689e6/43008270761_4b630e4e5b_o1.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=452%2C0%2C2095%2C2095&w=290)
A defining feature of the American Dream is upward income mobility — the ideal that children will achieve a higher standard of living than their parents. Economist Raj Chetty’s research shows that children’s prospects of reaching that benchmark have fallen from 90 percent to 50 percent over the past half century. Chetty will discuss how big data can help us understand what...
![Our Towns: A Journey into the Heart of America](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/c79761b0-4d09-48fe-82d0-b9560c7a7d71/42287497234_925f6c31df_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=489%2C0%2C2022%2C2022&w=290)
Is the view from “out there” in America as bleak as our pundits and politicos keep telling us it is? Deborah and James Fallows — who have spent the past five years traveling the interior of America from South Dakota to South Carolina and dozens of points in between — say no. Their new best-selling book, Our Towns: A 100,000-Mile Journey into the Heart of America, argues th...
![Making Communities Safe for Women](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/3fad556d-1ce0-4df5-9c11-167e57bbbc16/29130457188_26399e4a01_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=290&q=80&rect=591%2C0%2C1817%2C1817&w=290)
More than one-third of the world’s girls and women have experienced some form of violence in their lives, leading the World Health Organization to highlight “a global health problem of epidemic proportions.” In this year of unprecedented attention to women’s safety, we are increasingly aware of their vulnerability to sexual violation, trafficking and other forms of abuse....