You pretty much nailed it with: not as gullible to degeneracy but more naive to authority. Very few people could comprehend back then that insidious and powerful people would actively work towards the destruction of what is good, true and beautiful. You can't blame them for not imagining that, because it is outside of what the majority of us can even actually comprehend as being a motivating factor to life lol.

That said, you're right. So much about this time period absolutely sucks. But at the same time, to have any real shot of fixing these problems, their causes need to be layed bare. Only in these times is that really possible.