If things like critical thinking and self-exploration used to be escapes (however partial and/or temporary) from some of the awfulness of life under capital, from exploitation and psychic death, then those escapes have been obstructed because capital is able to use those things to increase exploitation and control. The old saw about keeping people dumb to keep them down is only partly true now; keeping them alert, in-tune, and savvy can work just as well as a method of control. Dotcoms may be dead, but their model is more alive because it's widely dispersed.
>I'm not at all convinced of it, but supposing it is true that
>capitalism encourages parents to treat their children with this kind
>of respect, why is this even remotely scary? Capitalism happens to
>encourage something which we also value? Who cares?
It's not necessarily bad. I love having my kids also be my friends and confidant(e)s (though one did tell me just yesterday he wanted knew parents that wouldn't make him take his pink-eye medicine), and I'm certainly not saying just because capital encourages it we shouldn't. But keep in mind the original context of this discussion: the high levels of depression and anxiety felt by young people, and not just by young people, today. Obviously knowledge of the world and oneself, skepticism, and better parenting models have not translated into happiness.