Rethinking the American Dream

A Special Delivery From the Vanity Fair Archive View in your browser | Update your preferences A daily digest of things to discuss over drinks July 04, 2020 What is the American dream? Equality? Freedom? A life free of financial worry? Is it available only to a single class or race, and who makes those decisions? This Independence Day, revisit four pieces from the V.F. Archive that questioned the American cultural and economic status quo, from the chasm between the haves and have-nots to the system that drives police killings. For unlimited access to the Vanity Fair Complete Archive, consider subscribing today. READ MORE » Of the 1%, By the 1%, For the 1% Americans have been watching protests against oppressive regimes that concentrate massive wealth in the hands of an elite few. Yet in our own democracy, 1% of the people take nearly a quarter of the nation's income—an inequality even the wealthy will come to regret, Joseph E. Stiglitz wrote in 2011. READ MORE » A Colony in a Nation Despite increased African American political power, being Black seems as dangerous as ever. In an adaptation from his 2017 book, Chris Hayes examined the system that drives police killings—and its consequences for everyone. READ MORE » Rethinking the American Dream Along with millions of jobs and 401(k)s, the concept of a shared national ideal is said to be dying. But is the American dream really endangered, or has it simply been misplaced? In 2009, exploring the way our aspirations have changed—the rugged individualism of the Wild West, the social compact of FDR, the sitcom fantasy of '50s suburbia—David Kamp showed how the American dream came to mean fame and fortune, instead of the promise that shaped a nation. READ MORE » My American Home The challenge of V.F.'s 2005 essay contest was to explain the American people to the rest of the world. Chosen from among nearly 4,000 entrants, the winner, a Peace Corps volunteer in Togo, struggled daily to interpret her country for a desperately poor West African village. READ MORE » This e-mail was sent to you by VANITY FAIR. To ensure delivery to your inbox (not bulk or junk folders), please add our e-mail address, vanityfair@newsletter.vf.com, to your address book. View our Privacy Policy Unsubscribe Copyright © Condé Nast 2020. One World Trade Center, New York, NY 10007. All rights reserved.