In scope, even more global than WWII, in intensity though, nowhere remotely close... very different kinds of situation that don’t easily draw comparison.
Is it so absurd to think that the pandemic is probably one of the worst events many people today have ever experienced? One of the reoccurring themes of existentialism is that individuals form their own meaning, a meaning that may be radically altered if they've lost their job due to the pandemic, have been hospitalized due to the pandemic, or have lost someone to the pandemic.
There's unemployment spikes, but that has happened before too... say, 2009? Several other previous recessions?
For some people it's the worst, certainly many have died... but the average person? the median person? Yes there's the inconvenience and stress of social isolation, yes there's unemployment... but still let's keep things in perspective, comparing it to a world war is a bit extravagant. Whole cities were bombed out of existence, the infrastructure of Europe was completely destroyed, the deaths around the world were enormous in places and primarily young people in the prime of their lives...
It just doesn't compare. Not that it isn't a very difficult situation all around, but don't overrate people's suffering.
Watching Netflix at home, WFH, etc... While awaiting "certain covid" of course, its only for the privileged.
For the not so privileged the trauma can be easily compared to violent times: it's all about unemployment, domestic violence, hunger, collateral death, etc
They get a cat instead of a kid, they expect to never be able to buy a home, they expect not to have a pension and to enter the later stages of their life in a climate of turmoil and an ever-decreasing safety net.
Whether that's true, of course, is debatable. But it's been somewhat surprising and very painful to see how many of the 30-and-below people around me are utterly pessimistic about their future prospects on various axes. The pandemic mostly registered to them as a punch to the gut, and as something that probably accelerates a number of their other concerns. If anything, it /hasn't/ been too traumatic because they were already pessimistic.
I imagine the spectre of nuclear armegedon during the height of the cold war was pretty scary, so maybe its still a false claim, but its hard for me to say as i wasn't alive then. I will say that i think this year has been one of the most anxious of my life, only partially due to covid.
It’s interesting that our current ‘modern’ culture focuses on feelings much more, such that someone may feel they are going through something worse than WW2 and we to affirm their feelings or we are ‘hating’ them.