Well, it's a mix of our perceptions changing due to the internet, social media and news driven culture, and things actually going wrong. For the former, the ne

Well, it's a mix of our perceptions changing due to the internet, social media and news driven culture, and things actually going wrong. For the former, the news has created a polarised landscape where the negatives are put under the spotlight 24/7, and issues are turned into massive world ending ones that various political sides constantly argue about online. So you'll think every issue in the world is bigger, more widespread and more dangerous than it really is due to this hype/fanaticism driven culture. At the same time, there's definitely more awareness of things like mental health, homelessness, etc due to the internet and social media because information doesn't have to go through gatekeepers anymore, and people are less judgemental about those struggling with those things than they used to be. So awareness isn't necessarily a bad thing here, just if it's portrayed as "we're all fucked and everyone's going to die!" As for changes in the world itself? Well, there are definitely some things that have either broken or hit their tipping point. Climate change was an issue for decades, but its effects over time have built up to the point that ignoring it is no longer a practical solution. This in turn has led to some problems with the world's temperatures, weather patterns, natural disasters, etc that will only accelerate in time. Meanwhile other issues like economic breakdowns are the result of trends from the 60s/70s that were shortsighted then, and hilariously so in hindsight. Such as failing to enforce anti monopoly laws or properly regulate large businesses, treating housing as an investment rather than a right and in the case of tech companies, investing in anything and everything regardless of how likely it is to actually make a return on said investment. So yeah, it's a mix of both.