i had a very illuminating conversation with a guy about 10 years younger than me that really put this change into perspective, which is this:
i have a very distinct memory, in my childhood, of the moment of my disillusionment.Ā i believed that grown-ups knew what they were doing, and that the things that seemed so obvious to me had to be obvious to them, too (things like DONāT GO TO WAR IN IRAQ, for example).Ā i believed that, and had that belief pulled out from under me, so my disillusionment comes with a sense of betrayal.
a mere 10 years younger than me, this guy has no such moment or memory.Ā he never believed grown-ups were fundamentally competent, or good, or reasonable.Ā he never lived in a world where things didnāt feel constantly careening wildly out of control.Ā thereās no betrayal in his sense that the government has failed him - of course it has, it was always going to.Ā he doesnāt remember a time pre-bush, or pre-9/11, or pre-iraq war.Ā this is just what the world has always looked like for him.Ā so itās not really a sense ofĀ ādisillusionment,ā actually - his generation never had any illusions to lose.Ā theyāve just been in this world so long itās all theyāve ever known.
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