Because our culture is lurching towards paranoia and isolation. People are afraid of other people, big groups of people, and big buildings out of a fear of other people. People have come to believe that they will be victimized by criminals or terrorists if they spend too much time out in the world. It's a part of our culture now and you can see that in a lot of aspects of TV and movies. Most sitcoms take place IN the house now rather than out in the town. The city sitcom trend of the '90s is pretty much over and now (surprise) people are watching shows about terrorism and murder instead. The people that are watching those shows and scaring themselves shitless about the world are also the libertarian "back off" types because of that fear and paranoia.
Excellent observations, and I couldn't agree more. This negative characteristic of american society is especially noticable because here in Thailand we still have 'real life' - street life, people actually out eating amongst one another, meeting, etc, in close proximity. Most Thai people include 'the streets are so empty, its depressing!' as one of their many criticisms from their experiences studying abroad in the Bad Place, Britain, or Australia.
