My thoughts as well. If we are settling into our armchairs, I think a big part of it is cognitive dissonance trying to reconcile the risky and imperfect world with the impossible idealism they were raised to believe in.
Also they are confronted with having less and less agency and control as information shrinks and standardizes the world.
I think being raised in impossible idealism is maybe an understated part of this, for sure. My main impression from adults as a kid in the 90s was that the world’s problems were solved. 9/11 was a very rude awakening.
Also they are confronted with having less and less agency and control as information shrinks and standardizes the world.