One of the most mesmerizing things about Trumpism was the '80s nostalgia—the vapor-wave and meme magic that emerged online in 2016. The '80s was a simpler and more naive time ... when America was more self-confident, arrogant, and reckless, like Trump.
Biden evokes the utter boredom of the 1990s—a decade without a defined style. As a man, he embodies qualities of Bill Clinton, Bob Dole, and George W. Bush all rolled into one. His newfound popularity expresses a desire for a sheltered, flat "centrism" in a fragmenting age.
We seem destined for a decade—at least!—of Boomer presidents, each evoking nostalgia for half-remembered moments from our past—or periods we "remember" through television.
Barack Obama (technically a Boomer) will likely be the sole "Gen-X president." And in 2008, he was, authentically, a break with the past: his Muslim-sounding name, mixed blood, antiwar and anti-establishment rhetoric, and Chicago background, all which made him cool and dangerous.
Obama had a thoroughly mediocre presidency, but he did convey a typically Gen-X alienation from the American establishment and desire to leave the past behind.
Millennials and Zoomers are extremely polarized ... but they seem incapable of actual rebellion—only able to muster reactionary nostalgia. They don't want to overcome the past but revisit simulations of various American moments they've heard about or consumed online.
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