When did it become cool to be a pretentious jerk?

I've noticed a disturbing trend. It seems that in order to be hip or cool, the best thing to do now is to be a total jerk.

Maybe it's the anonymity of the internet that has encouraged this trend. Or maybe it's a cultural shift. Who knows why, but I'm sick of it.

Case in point - The author here is supposed to be reviewing a new child seat with side-impact protection. Instead he takes the opportunity to rant about a variety of topics, most of which are only loosely related to the item at hand.

While I'm never one to support playing on people's fears in order to sell something, this guy takes his rant a little too far. While I'm sure there are plenty of irresponsibly parents out there, that's not the only reason someone would get in an accident where this item would come in handy. A perfectly safe driver could easily get t-boned by someone who decided to run a red light or something else stupid.