Norman Rockwell's "Freedom from Want" (or "Thanksgiving Dinner") and Re-Examining FDR's Four Freedoms

Yes, I just had to use that famous Norman Rockwell painting here called "Freedom from Want" showing the classic American Thanksgiving. While ubiquitous, the painting never fails to hold people's interest, brings minor awe at its structure and draws out at least some kind of emotion...even those in other countries who understand the concept. More recently, the strongest emotion it might render is a familial ideal pined for that almost every sane person who wants control in their life wish could still happen. Maybe some fortunate people are able to attain that magic of a family being together on Thanksgiving and all getting along (fortunately, my family background mirrors the painting)--but many people unfortunately can't make it happen in their life the way things work today. In fact, Rockwell's ideal there may have already been pined for back in 1943 when it was first painted, despite family units having at least slightly better cohesion in those days. And when you add what inspired Rockwell's painting to that mix during WWII--we can get a better context of the painting to the current state of things. That inspiration came from President Franklin Delano Roosevelt and his famous January, 1941 speech to Congress outlining his vision of "Four Freedoms."

Roosevelt's speech that January was more or less a State of the Union--but seemed to give hints of war to come for the United States. He and his administration undoubtedly realized we'd be dragged into WWII eventually either by Hitler or the Japanese (maybe before Pearl Harbor happened 11 months later).