![](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/null7fba275c-cd84-49bf-b513-e2d0b23feb72/27930586831_978056532a_h.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C1599%2C898&w=800)
An Angry America: How Did We Get to This Point?
Setup
Much has been written about the elections this year – about the candidates, their policies, their personalities. But there is another story of equal importance: about us. America rests on a structure of interlocking systems – an education system that would ideally produce a citizenry knowledgeable about civics and skilled at thinking critically about what they’re seeing and hearing; a free press that sheds light instead of heat; an economic system that seems fair and a justice system that seems just, a political system that produces qualified and appealing candidates. At its root, America is about its values, its priorities, its commitments, its culture, and whether our systems meet the obligations those goals demand. So how have we gotten to this point with its anger and discontents? What has failed? That’s the question with which this panel is challenged.
Explore More
Economy
![15 Talks to Understand the 2024 Political Landscape](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/26ac3431-ada5-424c-94a2-fdbb8fbb1bc3/GettyImages-1490401931.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=267&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C4096%2C2729&w=400)
The 2024 presidential election is only months away, and the past few weeks alone have brought shocking headlines that change the political ground we stand on — an attempted a...
![Aif Stock Hero Images](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d53c86d8-a116-4261-8468-bf005c53bca1/AIFStockHeroImages.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=0a7c51&q=80&rect=1453%2C0%2C3377%2C3375&w=400)
![Aif Stock Hero Images](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/d53c86d8-a116-4261-8468-bf005c53bca1/AIFStockHeroImages.png?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=1453%2C0%2C3377%2C3375&w=400)
The federal right to abortions in the United States has been overturned, access to contraception and IVF services are threatened in many states, and the gender wage gap persis...
![Adobestock 260344316](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/f2599851-39be-4138-a0b4-165f786a48a6/AdobeStock_260344316.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&mono=7d247d&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C2624%2C2624&w=400)
![Adobestock 260344316](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/f2599851-39be-4138-a0b4-165f786a48a6/AdobeStock_260344316.jpeg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=400&q=80&rect=0%2C0%2C2624%2C2624&w=400)
The Supreme Court has issued another series of controversial and consequential decisions this term, fueling discussion on the current state of the judicial branch. Recent poll...
![Women Investing in Women](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/29942e24-e2ab-4f83-94d2-b907fbaf4615/53823873613_23991edd49_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C1453%2C3100%2C1744&w=400)
Women are twice as likely to invest in female-led businesses. Explore the ways women approach wealth building and investment, and how they create opportunities to build financ...
![Are American Women Going Backwards?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/a4f70e43-9976-4d6c-936d-6ffb4f1b3993/53824046585_143bcae259_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=180%2C0%2C2062%2C3101&w=400)
The rollback of reproductive rights, the push to end no-fault divorce, and gun laws that allow domestic abusers to own a firearm are turning the clock back on women’s rights....
![Can We Disagree Better?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/867d54ef-2bf9-4bb5-995d-f35c23e375d0/53821131222_ca1376075a_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C187%2C5360%2C3015&w=400)
Americans feel more polarized than ever, but two governors from opposite sides of the aisle have made it their mission to show otherwise.
![Does American Capitalism Still Work?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/6ddc1a5b-c983-41dc-9fdf-c50d8411fce7/53823880878_647f9e3767_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C242%2C4650%2C2616&w=400)
In a time of growing wealth disparity and evolving societal values, can capitalism adapt to sustain the American Dream?
![A Friendship Forged Across the Aisle](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/7f68fce4-96b1-496a-9a3c-24bc903170c0/53823888468_306343aebd_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C242%2C4650%2C2616&w=400)
Former Senators Bill Nelson and Kay Bailey Hutchison discuss the bipartisan work that defined their careers, suggest ways for today’s elected officials to find common ground,...
![The Court Decides](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/44f5f558-fb15-4b8c-8704-3d09fe95fc55/53822899936_81b46589e0_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=2581%2C0%2C3093%2C4639&w=400)
As the Supreme Court concludes another contentious term, it is once again reshaping the legal landscape. With cases on abortion, gun rights and social media — and potentially...
![Ford’s CEO on EVs and Driving Into the Future](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/08b088f4-4719-4c3b-9330-be6ac4ff123a/fordceo.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C297%2C5632%2C3168&w=400)
Join Jim Farley as he explores how drivers' needs and priorities are guiding the future of vehicle technology and reshaping our expectations of cars and trucks.
![Pushback: The Perils (and Power) of Corporate Commitments](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/4740a973-6c0d-4f57-9c35-796fdd369fa2/53823862693_2b19d6cc7e_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C1453%2C3100%2C1744&w=400)
With ESG caught in the political culture wars, business executives must decide to speak up or stay quiet about climate, diversity and democracy. What do employees and citizens...
![Navigating Tomorrow’s Economy (Part 1 and Part 2)](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/6174eb00-1e5e-4da8-acfb-8b85be903d4b/53822186869_5287ac99ed_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C312%2C6000%2C3375&w=400)
![The First AI Elections](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/99577b3a-ea63-463d-ab41-661af8afde41/aielections.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=1515%2C0%2C2414%2C3621&w=400)
Two billion people worldwide are set to vote in elections this year, amid global conflict, societal mistrust, broken information ecosystems — and the truth-destroying disrupti...
![The Secret of Making Hits](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/008361bf-2540-4a00-8e1f-69739f370ce8/53822660989_e5265f0505_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=1%2C307%2C5880%2C3308&w=400)
Amid seismic shifts in the entertainment world, Oscar-, Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning Brian Grazer has managed to keep pivoting to new ways to tell stories in movies, TV and...
![The African Century](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/bdb124db-886c-4221-854e-1e6893bfb3be/53824085325_aa02dd6d1f_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C1453%2C3100%2C1744&w=400)
Africa is a rising giant. By 2050, one in four people on the planet will be African, and by 2060, Africa will have the largest labor force in the world. A former Nigerian pres...
![Vagabond of Song](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/7eea29da-ea74-4516-b211-776d628c7f8a/53821145355_6b0d6d5891_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C311%2C5975%2C3361&w=400)
Hurray for the Riff Raff is more than Alynda Segarra’s musical moniker; they spent their youth hopping trains across America, capturing that life in youthful poetry then and a...
![How Do We Stop the Shooting?](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/cd3b5f27-2641-4fd2-839d-a6b3e1fc996d/53821344433_b018c4e0b1_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=600&q=80&rect=1292%2C0%2C2067%2C3100&w=400)
Firearms are one of the leading causes of death among children in the U.S., a country where there have been more than 150 mass shootings in the first five months of 2024. Sit...
![What Images Teach About Racial Justice](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/b952ab2d-c640-4a57-8279-6c7d03238fb9/53820187272_5aeee651ba_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C242%2C4650%2C2616&w=400)
Images communicate truths, and also lies. Learning to pay attention to photographs can help us discern. An art and cultural historian and a visual artist host a master class o...
![The Iconoclast](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/32220310-b38a-40d9-b373-6fb5dbb0b1e9/53820643279_96e2c83e4f_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=0%2C302%2C5790%2C3257&w=400)
Peter Thiel has made no secret of his feelings about economic and cultural issues. Hear him discuss his vision for the future, his bets on AI and digital currencies, his thoug...
![Debate Night at Ideas](https://aspenideasfestival.imgix.net/ab06994e-18a8-42bd-9727-b735c360d0fc/53821494800_c394ae62c7_o.jpg?auto=compress%2Cformat&fit=min&fm=jpg&h=225&q=80&rect=1%2C306%2C5882%2C3309&w=400)
Join our panel of expert analysts for a pre-debate conversation about how the 2024 election is shaping up. Stay for the debate watch party and refreshments, then hear the pane...