Topic: Norman Rockwell

The transition from a product-based to a service-based economy has left many American small towns and cities, such as Detroit and Bloomington, Illinois, in a state of decay. Abandoned factories are compared to Roman ruins, representing a lost civilization of American craftsmanship and industrial might. This decline is attributed to 50 years of outsourcing and organized labor issues that prioritized cheap Chinese labor over domestic blue-collar stability.

The 1971 departure from the gold standard is identified as the catalyst for rampant inflation, rising divorce rates, and the forced entry of women into the workforce. This economic shift allegedly birthed modern feminism and led to the outsourcing of child-rearing to the state. Norman Rockwell’s painting "Off to College" is used to illustrate the lost ideal of the hardworking blue-collar father whose sacrifices have been squandered by subsequent generations' indoctrination in Marxist ideology.