For me the worst thing of the last 20 years has been the "ahistorical turn" where people aren't even interested in looking at the 1990s or the 1970s never mind the heroic age of Communism or the Ancien Reigme solar economy.

Personally I think ancient Japan is more interesting than ancient Rome because Kyoto didn't fall so far and the Tokugawa age made the transition to the Meiji age at a running pace. But really, looking at distant times and places gives some insight into the possibility that things could be different and we're not stuck in a postmodern end of history.