It's both.
VEs are increasing in number and sophistication over time because the social contract of the United States has been cleaved.
On one side you have individualistic capitalists who don't want to be told what to do and don't want to subsidize the existence of others.
On the other you have communal idealists who recognize the scale advantage state actions and programs can have and want to deploy them.
The later are winning and the former do not have a political exit that does not involve secession.
That's the fundamental base. The heightened media attention being paid to instances of the above are in response to the general understanding that those fundamentals are now in place.