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1. The author is reading too much into too little data. Why should I believe that people saying "No problem" is "a culturally significant obliteration of the difference between giving and demanding" and not just a verbal shift? 2. "No problem" doesn't imply that the audience's thanks ought to have been an apology. Rather it's a humble reduction of one's efforts in taking the gratifying action. In other words, when I tell people "no problem," I'm expressing that my behavior hardly necessitated thanks. If anything, "no problem" is kinder than "you're welcome" insofar as it diminishes the perceived worth of the instigating action.