Few countries have told their own story as effectively as the United States: freedom, equal opportunity, the promise that anyone can succeed. These are not merely political ideals. They are part of a narrative that has been exported across the globe. But what happens when that story is subjected to critical scrutiny?

This six-part series follows precisely that approach. It begins where everything began: with the Declaration of Independence in 1776 and the famous »pursuit of happiness«.
It shows how a promise of freedom evolved into a system that does not restrain economic ruthlessness, but structurally enables it. It traces the development of an elite that once emigrated from England and, in the United States, did not disappear but merely changed its form.
It examines how political power in the US is organised, who truly has access to it, and why the idea of a »people’s president« fails in practice at the limits of electoral systems and constitutional structures.
It concludes with a foreign policy increasingly shaped by the logic of economic deals – placing the foundations of international stability into question.

This series is not an indictment. It is a counter-narrative to official accounts – and an invitation to take a closer look at the United States.