I dont know, I thought no child was supposed to be left behind

I guess compared to slot machines or lottery tickets (which are instant loss if not a win) if you lose initially on memecoin there is a shred of a chance it rebounds and you can make some of it back.

Maybe they see this as a "better" vice to have with excess income.

It’s rational if you cognize that being the beneficiary of a long shot scheme or gamble is the only viable path to economic security for most, given the overall trajectory of the economy. Simply plot the median wage in terms of gold or any other hard commodity (as opposed to the gamed CPI metric).

Distrust of mianstream media and institutions and high trust in streamers, youtubers and podcasters who aren't regulated by the FCC or any sort of editorial guidelines and happily parrot conspiracies, fringe economic theories, pump shitcoins, promote BetterHelp "therapy" and random dropship brand supplements.

Sure, easy answer: it's simply not a generational thing. What you're observing is your own bias. Prior generations (including yours) get scammed just as often.

It's the American dream.

Meme coins are closest to gambling like day-trading. There's at least an opportunity to win money from other rubes, even if the EV is bad. It's also one of those forms of gambling where you can easily convince yourself that you have an edge this time.