MadMalkavian, I am one of those who believes that many things about the world are getting worse, but I disagree thoroughly with your observations about parenting.
I don't think people are spending less time with or being less responsible in general with their children than they ever have. Yeah, kids are spending lots of time with multimedia. I don't think this is a sign of neglect. When there wasn't so much multimedia, kids just spent a ton of time running around outdoors unsupervised. Usually getting into trouble. While that may have been healthier in ways, with today's fear culture and heavy restrictions on parenting, you can't even let young children play outside freely if you live in a populated area. Unless it's in a fenced in backyard or something. And parents are generally more time-constricted than they were in the past.
I understand your response may be something along the lines of people without time and resources to dedicate shouldn't have children, but then what you advocate is for only the rich to have children.
Helicopter parents (those who hover constantly over their children's shoulders and get involved in everything they do) are also seen as unhealthy for many aspects of a child's psychological development. They make it difficult to grow up to become independent, to take risks, accept mistakes, and cope with the world they've been sheltered from.
I understand that parenting is a subject where it's difficult not to feel strongly about your ideals, and for good reason. However, as someone who has had to deal with the realities of raising two children while in his twenties, going to school, working full-time, with a spouse who has emotional issues due to childhood trauma and was going to school, and working full-time for an income that qualifies for government assistance... your perspective is hard for me to read. Just saying... I wouldn't get all misanthropic and despaired for the future because of your observations about modern parenting. Much of it isn't as bad as you think, and other stuff isn't as much due to irresponsibility as you think.