From outside the USA, it does indeed seem alarming. Alas, I suspect it's a global trend though. And I think most readers here will know why: we've all been conditioned to expect endless GDP growth leading to the glossy-magazine lifestyle for all; and thereby, universal happiness. But the laws of physics take no prisoners; as global resource limitation issues such as climate change start to bite, people start to hurt. They demand simplistic answers to complex questions. Fundamentalist religion and autocracy, hand-in-hand, claim to provide those answers. And suckers buy into that.