Hi Bradley!The demise of the Roman Empire comes to mind. Took centuries; every generation for 300+ years had something "better" to look back on, and might well have been wondering "what is happening to the world?" Imagine grandparents and great-grandparents telling their family "In the good old days we ruled everybody and had more slaves than we could count, and now look what's happened--"Reminds me of the proverb:
Dont long for "the good old days," for you dont know whether they were any better than today.
Craig