I think it's harder for other people to accept that certain things can and will decline, or that history has ebbs and flows for any dimension you care to measur

I think it's harder for other people to accept that certain things can and will decline, or that history has ebbs and flows for any dimension you care to measure, and is not just linearly getting better. "You're just imagining it bro" is a rationalisation that lets people cling on to the Eternal Progress narrative.