I think you are confusing "complexity" with "hardship." While the increased complexity of our world can cause a lot of anxiety, alienation, etc. it doesn't mean people have it harder today than humans in the past. Aside from a few very unfortunate regions, humans have it much easier today than they have in the past. The fact that you cite math class as an example where people have it harder is a clear indication of how cushy life is for many people these days. Ha.
Do you really think lifespan has no bearing on quality of life? It's totally random? People who have an average lower lifespan are just as likely to be rich or fortunate as they are poor or unfortunate?
I don't even think you've made a coherent point other than you don't like the tone of the article. A lot of what I've just said reinforces the idea that there are many positives to convenience. Life is more convenient and less dangerous than it was in the past. However, many people have been conditioned to over index on convenience, to the point where they are totally lost. If only I had this next object of convenience, I could be happy. People need something to struggle toward. The fact that the struggle for many is no longer survival is fantastic.
One last thing, I just have to point out how comical the "people taking the tram to the top are going to use the extra time to go volunteer" point is. I understand, you are thinking of some sort of pure utopian utilitarianism. But no, they are going to use the extra time to grab a burger and check out the gift shop.
I never claimed people today have it harder, I objected to the claim that people today have it easy. They don't,but it is true that the challenges have changed and yes that means less hardship but more complex problems. But you seem to dismiss complexity as not having an impact on how hard life is.
Since you mentioned people are lost, let's take that as an example. What's harder walking 20km along a road to get home, or being lost in the woods but only needing to walk 2km in the right direction to get home? One is more overall effort and has more hardship but it's simple and straightforward, the other is less work but more complex. Simply saying it's longer to walk 20km so it's harder seems at best naive, a case very easily be made that the person lost in the forest has it much harder.
Complexity makes life today hard, and yes there are a lot of people that in the face of that complexity make the wrong choice and are left always feeling unsatisfied. But the right answer isn't self imposed hardship, it's doing things that you find meaningful.
And how exactly is it comical to suggest that it's because they have more free time, which if you read the article was even one of the reasons listed. The stats back up the fact that more young people are volunteering then in the past.
I use death as the most extreme example. Dying young of a terrible disease is about as bad as it can get in life.
But sure, if you want to focus on lifestyle, the generations alive today in the West have: clean air and water (no rivers catching fire), cars that are expected to last hundreds of thousands of miles instead of tens of thousand, the entire world's information at their fingertips, the ability to call/navigate/text/video at the touch of a button, access to information and investment vehicles that can facilitate ER, access to affordable fresh produce throughout all seasons of the year, employer and consumer protections (try reading about the meat industry in the early 1900's if you want to make yourself ill), for relatively little money the ability to fly to any major city on Earth in under 24 hrs, the ability to hop in a personal vehicle and drive across the continent without giving it much thought. I could go on. Life in our day in age is indeed an explosion of awesomeness.
Dying young is certainly a tragedy but it doesn't mean that the person had a hard life. If a 2 day old baby dies, did that baby have a hard life, did the baby who died after 2 months have a slightly easier life?
Clean air/water is actually a relatively modern problem, and for the record still is a major problem for lots of the world. I mean even in America, Flint still doesn't have clean running water, major cities around the world have smog problems, I think not that long ago Paris had to ban cars for a few days because of it. Compare that to say an Ancient Greek, he could find sources of fresh water and drink from it without worrying about it being polluted, he didn't have health problems from all the air pollution either.
Yes today is an awesome time to be alive, and tomorrow will probably be even better but the idea that we don't face challenges today is just absurd. The challenges are less likely to leave us dead, but that doesn't mean they aren't hard.