I'm sure smartphones don't help, but there is also an additional factor that I've observed: The social contract has changed radically. A lot of people from older generations have the idea that if they show up and do a good job at work, go to the doctor and obey what they say, read the newspaper and take it seriously, all these kind of "doing what you're supposed to" elements of life, that they'll be well-served and well taken care of. For young people, that is not at all the case. And, because they're not stupid, they've noticed (how could they not?), and it makes them cynical and nihilistic about the whole concept of "doing what you're supposed to" as a general life principle.

We're boned

What else would you expect from a cohort that thinks any emotion or action that isn't rooted in a smug disdain for sincerity is "cringe". Fucking kids brains have been fried by fascist dogwhistle memes, incel rhetoric, and actual rapists peddling antisocial behavior as a life philosophy.

Is this why customer service has gone downhill so dramatically? Never a smile or thank you anymore. Everyone is just miserable and rude.

When I worked for $5.15/hr in 2008 it was expected to be courteous and polite with customers or you'd be fired. I remember my manager at my first job specifically laying into me for not smiling enough. It was the most basic requirement of the job.

And people say that it's because wages suck nowadays, but that $5.15 from 2008 is now worth around $8 and yet fast food pays $15/hr starting around me. So kids nowadays make twice as much as I did and can't be assed to give a single fuck. I just don't get it.

I'd like everyone to stop and consider what end of life care is going to be like for us with these fucked up kids running the show by the time we reach that stage.

I get that every generation ever has thought the younger generations weren't up to the task, but this isn't the same scenario. As other commenters are mentioning, these are people absolutely brain fried and desensitized from birth by aggressive, non-stop propaganda. They lack sympathy/empathy. Their roles models are literal rapists and fascists.

They're going to be amoral, poor, and completely unequipped to take care of the elderly, much less all the other aspects of society, by the time we reach the end of our lives.

Dark. Future.

Here's the NIH article: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4499872/ and the Financial Times article: https://archive.md/4YVBB The latter has more links to other sources.