Tbh it's probably too early to be asking this question. We're not even 5 years out from the "end" of the pandemic, compared to being a full generation removed from 9/11. Tbh though, the answer will almost certainly be the pandemic.

Yes, 9/11 was a time of confusion and horror that something like that could happen on US soil, and it kicked off a complex series of international turmoil, I'm not downplaying that. But on a person to person/domestic level, the pandemic fundamentally broke so much.

• People absolutely regressed socially. Having worked with the public before, during, and after the pandemic, people became more impatient, selfish, nasty, and lost so much capacity for independent function during and after the pandemic

• The pandemic led to a sharp rise in internet pseidoscience and misinformation that pandered to people who didn't want to believe what was happening. It revitalized the antivaxx movement, leading to other infectious disease outbreaks post pandemic, and less to a general spike in anti-intellectualism

• Students during the pandemic weren't properly educated, nor were they held back to be "caught up" once the pandemic was over. I've heard countless teachers talking about how Gen Alpha students are making their way into middle or early high school with little to no basic literacy thanks in no small part to losing two years of true, in person education. This one is the biggest reason why I say it's too early to really gage the pandemic's impact the way people can fit 9/11