Modern versions of this type of person exist, they're just pessimistic. The latest rising star in this category I've encountered is Peter Zeihan, a man who writes extensively about geopolitics and forecasts a great deal of doom and gloom (though America will be fine, he says, which helps his sales I'm sure). IIRC his latest book was one of the best-selling non-fiction books this year.

He's funny, explains complex topics in a way that's understandable to lay people, and gives the impression of knowing his business quite well.

In reality, the vast majority of his predictions over the past two decades have not come true e.g. saying China, Russia, and Canada would all break up by 2020. He is also wrong about specific technical claims e.g. how efficient certain renewable technologies can be in different locales (I have enough of a background to check some of these figures by hand).