Im not sure its so much learned helplessness as, and I know this will be an unpopular opinion here, I don’t want to understand how it all works behind the scenes.
“Learned helplessness” isn’t meant as an insult, it’s just a way to describe… well, this. The idea that the internet is too complicated and you’ll never understand it so don’t bother trying. This is not the fault of the “normie masses” but rather society not treating digital competence as a necessary skill. Society has many more complicated systems like law, finance, insurance and property that people can still navigate!
No, it’s 100% economics. Why do you think that having “careers, lives and travel” (as if having a family is not having a life?) is more appealing to modern first worlders? Because it doesn’t impact their finances severely. Having more children in impoverished countries is a financial gain because children are free labor and lottery tickets to get the entire family out of poverty. In wealthy countries, children are only a financial loss.