The Cultural Contradictions of Conservatism

There’s a genre of right-wing social media posting that’s dedicated to retro-Americana aesthetics: Norman Rockwell paintings, pictures of cute New England towns, preppy clothing, 1950s family scenes, Beach Boys-era Southern California, and similar things. The Trump administration has even gotten into the game, with the Department of Homeland Security posting a Thomas Kincade paining of an idealized small-town scene.