Somehow, I think it goes back to spoiled little boomer kids and Johnson's Great Society concept...
Or, I guess you could say, it goes back to the lack of a depression since the 30's. You're right that most pre-boomer and boomer kids had a pretty easy life.
The whiners are rapidly becoming a majority, which gives me considerable pessimism about the future of the nation. California's sort of the prototype for what happens when you can get elected by promising the voters the most freebies.
I lay it squarely at the feet of LBJ's Great Society.