What's Wrong with Modern Life?

[Pessimist]

I've been a lurker on TLO for a long time, and just today created an account so as to participate directly in some of the discussions here. There's also a particular discussion I'm looking to instigate.

I've noticed on TLO that complaint about modern life has a positive valence for a significant proportion of the regular contributors, regardless of philosophical inclination. There seems to be something--likely a number of things--about the culture of the Western world specifically that brings out disgust in many of the members here. I'm starting this thread to generate explicit, focused discourse about the repugnant elements of contemporary life, as up until now I've only seen the topic touched on passingly in threads that focus on other issues.

To be clear, I'm not seeking to start another round of philosophical combat, in which each side seeks to establish the superiority of its view. Rather, I'm hoping to see members express their gripes with life as we know it. I suspect that some pattern or another might emerge as posts file in.

For my part, I find the speed of modern life to be extremely distressing. It seems as if setting up any stable social network is next to impossible, in that huge swathes of people my age are wont to migrate for the sake of schooling and work. Indeed, in my experience the first couple decades or so of life are distinctly and significantly worsened by this. Every movement in grade school entails some kind of social upheaval, followed by dissolution at the end of high school and college, when most of us are forced to break away from the friendships that we spent years developing.

Also, the fact that there are still people who take Ayn Rand seriously is horrifying, baffling, and enraging.