This is true, times are always hard for those living in them. Life is hard, after all. Which lends credence to Haidt's suggestion that smartphones/widespread I

This is true, times are always hard for those living in them. Life is hard, after all. Which lends credence to Haidt's suggestion that smartphones/widespread Internet is a primary factor. People tend to associate that with social media, which I would think is certainly part of it, but simply just being exposed to ideas can inculcate sympathetic ideas in people. All your friends are depressed? Hey, life is hard for me too, and I'm kinda sad, maybe I'm depressed too. It sounds trite, but people en masse do work that way. Social contagions were around before the Internet, but the Internet is an excellent medium for social contagions to grow quickly and spread widely.