The "hard times create..." meme was originally shared by actual ethno-nationalists who have since been banned from most platforms.

I don't know if the person I replied to knows that - I think there are a lot of people who don't. It's worth pointing out though there's a disconnect from the first sentence to the second. Why is it that we have to have hard times for us to be better? Well, the argument from the meme - which many people take seriously even if you or I don't - is that recent times have been easy and this has created weak (and other pejoratively described) men.

No, it was originally shared with us by Greek philosophers, over 2 millennia ago.

Ironically it’s an outgrowth of the very weakness in mindset that GP is talking about.

That makes sense and would explain why it's become more common.