Every Gen Xer I've ever met are the most apathetic people in the world. They do not give a single shit about what happens outside of their immediate vicinity, no matter what it is. The youngest ones are all middle aged now so they do the "when you get older you'll get more conservative" shtick to millennials and zoomers too.
Nuclear war really had a bad effect on their psyche's tbh. That and the end of history bs.
and the leaded gasoline
This. I used to sit in the living room and bawl my eyes out until my mom and dad came home because I was convinced that the Russians were going to initiate a first strike any moment. The Day After really messed us up.
Same with my Dad, except he was basically an anarchist punk to deal with that shit. Like that shit will fuck you up for life.