I'll be honest, one of his books was my least favourite I've ever read - Player of Games. I hated it the whole way through, just kept reading because I figured it would get better, and it didn't.
The Wasp Factory was good though, albeit fucked up.
It's been a long while for me, but some kind of dumb tinkering resulting in system death was semi regular 15 years ago. It got real bad when encyption started getting involved..
People are way more free to talk about their mental health problems.
Climate change is part of mainstream awareness, most people want to see action on it.
Gays and lesbians are very broadly accepted in many parts of the world. Trans people are too (and they are more visible), even if there is also a culture war backlash.
Nearly everyone hates capitalism. Not everyone has figured out what needs to be done about it, but it's a good start.
Conspiracy thinking is more rampant, presumably because of internet (mis/dis)information bubbles
(I was born in the early 80s, so this is over the last 30ish years, since the mid 90s)
The message is clear, who cares?