Parents play such a large role in the early development of kids, before their peers become the trend maker. That means that parents only have a short time to build the foundation for the future - and many deem themselves "too busy" to do it properly. But I don't think it is busyness for most, but rather that they have their own interests they want satisfied first. It takes time, effort, and a lot of learning to parent well I think. But mostly, it takes being present and sensitive enough to understand the child.

Could this have come from a life of easy consumerism, where not having to make much effort to consume or interact with the world led her to create a model in which nothing that requires a little more effort seems worthwhile?

I also think that it creates an environment that lowers patience and resilience, as well as stunts emotional development. People keep looking for labels to explain that "this is the way they were born" but I don't think that is the case most of the time these days. Just more excuses so as not to take responsibility.

Are we creating a society in which true information will only be available to those who make an effort to seek it out?

I think so. It is already happening in the sense that academic learning is decreasing, and more are "choosing" what they learn, which is ultimately not very much.