As far as many members of Generation Z are concerned, the future does not look as rosy as the past their parents inherited. Their youth was marked by a series of dramatic—even traumatizing—events: the onset of the Great Recession in 2008; a spike in mass shootings, including school shootings; an increase in political polarization; a reckoning over racial violence; an uptick in severe weather events exacerbated by climate change; and the Covid-19 pandemic, to name just a few crises.

The general pessimism of Generation Z—who were born between 1997 and 2012—has given rise to an ascendant phenomenon: an emerging sense of nostalgia for a time before the struggles of their own youth. This widespread generational wistfulness for what many believe to be a more innocent era may in turn be affecting American politics and culture.

“One thing we can say for sure about Gen Z is that they’re less likely than their parents and grandparents [to] do as well as past generations,” said Melissa Deckman, the CEO of the Public Religion Research Institute, or PRRI, who has written a book on the political views of Gen Z Americans. “Looking back nostalgically is probably a way to deal with the reality that they face.”

It’s common for newer generations to adopt the fashion and trends of previous ones; young people today wear the same style of low-rise jeans that were popular among teenagers in the 2000s, and catch up with turn-of-the-millennium shows like Friends and Sex and the City on streaming services. But for Gen Zers, this nostalgia could extend beyond culture to a longing for what they perceive as a simpler time in politics. It may translate into a vague yearning for a perceived post-9/11 American unity, or the remembered prosperity of the 1980s and 1990s. The jingoism of the early 2000s, or the strain of social conservatism in the Reagan and Clinton eras, is not as relevant as the sense that these time periods held more hope for young Americans.

“They’re longing for a time period that they personally don’t necessarily remember,” said Rachel Janfaza, a reporter who writes a newsletter on youth politics and culture, and a member of Generation Z herself. In listening sessions with young people, Janfaza has heard Gen Zers of all political affiliations express admiration for former President Barack Obama—whose rise from sudden fame at the 2004 Democratic National Convention to his election as president was a full-blown 2000s phenomenon—as an ideal political candidate.

“They often think back to the Obama days as a time when things seemed more simple. Whether or not that was actually the case, I don’t know if they understand or have........

© New Republic