Comment by throwaway6734

>Something I noticed was that being “underground” and “alternative” was considered “cool” when I was a youngster. Now, it seems all transgressive elements have been stripped from the mix and it’s all about “please like me, like my product, I’m desperate for your approval”

I think it's because anti-institutional cynicism has become the new norm with the rise of gen-x and the "ironic" hipsterdom of the early 2000s.

So much of modern culture is about operating in the negative space of the "normal" which takes significantly less effort than actively defining what you value and who you are.