That is tbh a very US centric perspective. The decade Gen X grown up - youth in the 80ties and young adulthood in 90ties - is known for the break up of the Sovjetbloc. If that isn’t a big shake in life, I don’t know what else might have such an impact on lifestyle, thoughts, ownerships and behaviors.

The longtail effects had disruptions to other regions in the world with unrest and uprisings for independence.

And sure there have been conflicts as well. E.g. the North Ireland conflict with bombing in the UK. And there was the first nuclear disaster of Tschernobyl in 1986 causing angst in Europe.

But at all, I‘d say these days were characterized by a positive mood and the feeling that people can change things.

Still, we have to manage the waste of former years. Needs money for ages.

Just stumpled upon this BBC article https://www.theguardian.com/business/2024/oct/23/sellafield-cleanup-cost-136bn-national-audit-office Cleaning up Sellafield, Europes biggest nuclear dump costs now up to 136.000.000.000 £ That’s the cost of nuclear. The dangerous rests of the power creation.

Try to dismantle a nuclear plant. It costs tons of money and time. Ask the people at Nagasaki or Tschernobyl.

Dismantle a coal power plant takes time, but one can reuse the iron and such. All the open mining fields and mining tunnels are the problem. In Western Germany, there are areas where house crack or cars fall down sudden openings caused by old mining tunnels.

Try to dismantle at wind mill or solar fields. It’s a quest of days and some bucks.

I prefer the easy way of living. So, my favorite are renewables.

but if we have some up and running, that’s cheap energy that generates little carbon.

That is the great misunderstanding of nuclear. It isn’t cheap. It’s supported massively by tax money. In France with all its big nuclear plants for example, the power company went bankrupt. Nuclear is too expensive to run. The government took over the operations.

In Germany, the power companies refused to prolong the operations of nuclear at the beginning of Russian invasion. It was too expensive for them.

The only advantage that nuclear has, is that it’s independent of weather and doesn’t emit carbon. The drawback is the costs, inflexibility (always on), and reliance on cool water (which was an issue in France). That’s why MS, Amazon and all put there eggs into this basket for AI power - they shit money.

Germany: We moved our power creation from 60% coal and atom-driven to 60% wind and solar-driven in the last 6 years. This change is fundamental and can’t be reversed. We stopped our atom plants and have a plan out of coal. Even though our geography isn’t in favor for renewables, our country is dedicated in becoming carbon neutral. This is supported by most of the population and industry. (Yes renewables are cheaper than coal, gas, and atom)

Still open is the transition of heat and cars to electricity. Rather an emotional debate - Germans are car-crazy. The car discussion is similar to the gun debate in the US.