Or maybe it is none of these and there is an outside influence which we can neither discern nor control, which is thwarting our hopes and aspirations.
Television.

When first introduced, it was a bit of novel entertainment and nothing more. But with each passing generation, it becomes more and more "social programming" to children, whether we intend it to or not. And with each of those generations, the quality of programming goes downhill. I'm not sure it's even possible to instill values in children any more without banning the television from the house. Or at least severely limiting (censoring) what they watch.