I'm at that age where the world was supposed to have ended about six times by now, and America was supposed to have been driven off the cliff about eight times by now.
There were supposed to be about half a dozen raptures by now, too
And Harris was supposed to be president. You are right--I think it is just an older generation characteristic. We all think the end of the world is near, the U. S. and economy will soon collapse, and everything was better back then.
I read old novels, history, and watch old movies and they all said the same thing. "We used to leave our doors unlocked but not now." I read Thomas Jefferson biographies and he was very critical of the youth of his day.
I'm not worried about a civil war--we would be too lazy or busy to show up (like many militia members during the American revolution).