You're absolutely right with that observation about people's projection and yearning for the future. I've often thought about this too that when I was younger it felt like everyone had more excitement for the future.
But I can even recall feeling that way well into the 2000's, like maybe even 2008 or so.
But I can say for certain that there was a marked change in how we feel about the future that seemed to begin around 9/11 2001.
After that there was never really peace again, and I feel like the world never looked at the USA the same again either.