Yeah, absolutely no existential dread from the Cold War. And we all just instantly stopped believing that the world would end in a nuclear holocaust just because the Soviet Union collapsed. Then there was the Gulf war, then 9/11, then another Gulf war. And we've known about climate change and how capitalism is killing our planet for practically the entire time, that's not new. Oil crisis? That's been a slowly building crescendo of apocalypse since like the 70s.
I'll buy existential dread as an excuse for not wanting to breed, not as an explanation for teenagers being less horny.
I can't tell if you're making a very subtle joke with a straight face and your tongue in your cheek or if you really haven't actually read the book. The irony is just fucking delicious. I prefer S. Morgenstern's original text.