Are we now more suspicious than ever before of people who are eccentric, or who espouse alternative ideas?

Not really. Being individual or unique isn't as cool as it was before. These days, just about everyone is an edgy non-conformist. The only problem is, these same people have to conform to being an edgy non-conformist. Everyone is an individual, everyone is unique. But so many people are like that, being unique, is no longer unique.