The problem lies in the raising in the current generation.
1. Children from the early MMO days were raised with discipline, and taught to respect others or suffer an unholy beating. Those people grew into adults and decided to not raise their children the same. Those children got away with a lot more, and because of such, they began growing into the elitists we see today. And their kids suffer from even a more severe lack of discipline, resulting in the kids you see running around our MMOs. Today, parents are so afraid of beating their kids that the kids have no reason to learn respect for others, and their attitudes only get worse with the internet's anonymity (sp?). Some good unholy discipline beatings would definitely help with the issue.