I guess--call me jaded and call me overly weary--I didn't expect to have more than one generation-defining moment in less than two decades. But hey, when Rome burned to the frakking ground I guess no one became overly wise or prominent from pointing out how absurd and easily predicted it was, right? I happen to belong to a generation whose primary instinct in the face of this much relentless anxiety and adversity is to...well, mock it. And mock the people who are making it worse. And mock ourselves for dealing with it poorly. I had a teacher in high school who told my journalism class that we were setting ourselves up to be the "Daily Show" Generation. Whereas his era involved pointing at structural bullshit and then protesting it in a serious and noble manner, ours tends to point derisively at problems, at each other, at ourselves, and make some primo snark in order to breathe easier.

Guilty.

Without a doubt, things are changing right now. The easiest way to judge if a…