I grew up in the east block too and I come upon this quite often. The peak of it is the current political situation in the USA.

I wonder if this is connected with the pressure to be young and healthy for as long as possible or at least looking like it which allows you to participate in "young culture" whith everything that comes along with it (tech, speach, dress, views,...). The side effect is a infantile look at the world and concepts that are supposed to run it on all levels.

I work for an US company in Germany and see realities collide every day.