That's a very interesting hypothesis. It very much could be that the Western society has developed so powerful (and effective) problem solving "engine" that now

That's a very interesting hypothesis. It very much could be that the Western society has developed so powerful (and effective) problem solving "engine" that now it simply doesn't have enough problems to solve (or its focus is not aligned properly). I remember when I moved to Canada from a country with 3 times higher crime rate it struck me how big mindshare crime news occupy in minds of Canadians. Especially women are subject to it for some reason. If a stranger would read a regular news website it might look like criminals now totally dominate and good citizens barely survive.