History was still relevant to many previous generations of mainlanders. The 80's generation remembered poverty and cult of personality, the 90's and millennials had a sense of the PRC opening up and were exploratory, sure most PRC citizens remained defensive, but there was a fair amount of skepticism and appreciation for the world. Something has changed and its not purely driven by fear of Xi, there is a cultural shift of emerging mainlanders who actually believe the propaganda and are intensely nationalistic. There are still plenty who prefer to ignore the problems, but all citizens of any nation have an obligation in their governance, even if there government is not one by choice. People can speak with their feet and their fist. That's not happening in the mainland anymore, their is an embrace of aggression and it's dangerous. It increases chances for conflict externally and allows for greater crimes internally. It's akin to being a German citizen at the end of the Weimar Republic, or the United States before our Civil War - the cost of genocide, of slavery - your population and society always pays with blood.