Comment by glitchc

It's really an education problem. The public schooling system in US has stopped failing kids. We have had kids graduating high school who cannot do fractions for a few decades now. Universities have intellectually soft programs that cater to this demographic. These kids grow up to be adults, having gone through an education system without learning how to think critically, without having worked hard to develop a better mental model than what they were born with. Social media gives them a voice and a position. Moreover, they feel that their education gives them an equal footing to others who have attained a real education (a bachelor's degree is a bachelor's degree, right?). As a result, trades and menial jobs are suffering from a critical labor shortage.

This cohort is quite large (~30% of the population). They are easily swayed since they never learnt to think for themselves.