Even at seven or so I remember the conflicts in Eastern Europe and the fall of the Berlin wall vividly. It was a strange mix of hopeful and tragic, and I’d definitely say it registered. But… probably not as much as it would if I’d truly been aware of the things that were going on before, which I might have been if I were older. Also my ability to understand what was going on afterwards was limited because I was still pretty young. Same thing for the Challenger disaster, I remember it but I was also watching Sesame Street and worrying about my baby teeth falling out so it was a different kind of experience, say, than 9/11 where I was very much aware of life both before and after. Similarly I was aware of economic issues during Regan or Bush’s presidencies, and I knew something of them because they affected my family. But that was definitely a different experience than 2008 because 2008 affected my income directly rather than affecting me passively through my parents.I think generations are toxic when they are overly marketed towards people or when external forces try too hard to define a generation but I also think that the experience of one’s surroundings is different at different ages and so whatever the conditions of the time they’re going to have a different impact based around age. Not just age, of course, but age will be a factor.
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