Why now? My guess is because our society has reached a level of affluence where it is possible for many more people to actually seek out, and pursue perceived avenues of enlightenment than they were able to historically. When they find such avenues lacking they continue to seek elsewhere until all options are exhausted. It is a rare person who can discard an avenue without trying it first. (Indeed, it is human nature to learn by experience not by being told – how many times when children are told “Don’t touch!” do they reach out and burn their fingers anyway?)

If one does not have the material means to pursue an avenue, one persists in dreaming of it as one’s salvation. Only experience teaches this is not so.