Good post, comrade. I figure we're roughly the same age, and I've had similar thoughts. It's funny, I remember just how pervasive the jokes/plotlines involving a "mid-life crisis" was back in the 90s. Getting old sucks. Sometimes it feels weird being around here knowing I'm on the older end of the curve. But I'm honestly pretty happy with my life. Sometimes I think there's a lot that I'd do different (like not be a cringe libertarian reading von Mises and Bastiat in college), but then again the path I took brought me to where I am (including being a commie, which is pretty rad) so I can't complain.

I do think people our age deal with this with maybe a somewhat unhealthy amount of nostalgia. Like, I often think about staying up late at night playing N64 in my friend's basement in the late 90s, and it makes me pretty. But that's a totally different ballgame from how the boomers dealt with it.

Also, this is entirely anecdotal so not really worth anything... but I know a few gen-Xers, and I've known them for a long time. None of them are really downwardly mobile or have a whole lot to complain about in life. But jfc, do they all seem a lot more angry and bitter all the time. Over the years they've just become very difficult to be around. Don't know what that's about.