Gen Z's 'Age of Unreality'

Younger Americans increasingly encounter world‑historic events as detached, platform‑mediated artifacts (memes, short clips, ironic remixes) rather than shared, real‑time experiences. That gap produces a generation who can be profoundly affected by a trauma (children of 9/11 victims) yet alienated from peers who treat the same event as meme fodder. — If a generation lacks a common experiential record of major events, civic trust, mutual empathy, and consensus about national meaning weaken — altering politics, commemoration, and media accountability.