Similar with Y2K — it was only a nothingburger because it was taken seriously, and funded well. But the narrative is sometimes, “yeah lol it was a dud.”

I can’t remember the name but I think this is some kind of paradox.

Like the preventative measures we’re so effective that they created a perception that there was no risk in the first place.

It’s called the prevention paradox: It’s when an issue is so severe that it is prevented with proactive action, so no real consequenses are felt so people think it wasn’t severe in the first place.