In my opinion it boils down to this. Some people take the position that nothing we do should really matter. There are no rules. Examples, would be people that either don't care about style, or manner of dress. They can't understand why this can have consequences. It has been proven that first impressions of someone are formed with seconds of meeting them. For example, not wearing a coat and tie in a work environment where that is the norm. Or, for that matter, vice-versa. Vocabulary and education is another area ripe for rebellion.

When you write words in a public forum , like the Internet, readers form opinions about the writer. It goes both ways. The posters who never learned punctuation, grammar, even capitalization, no doubt form opinions about the people who have mastered these elementary communication skills.
The people who did learn those skills, instantly reach a conclusion about the educational level of the writer.

Maybe it's no worse now then 25 years ago, but something tells me it is worse. We are getting our economic butts kicked by societies that are rapidly becoming smarter than us.

Politically correct, I'm not. I stand ready for the responses accusing my of being an arrogant you know what.

Steve