It's to claim "we are at a unique moment in time that is somehow separate from the very past from which it emerged, and is obviously superior to it in every way; even though it only is what it is because it came to be via the processes that unfolded throughout the past and up until this very moment."

And so everything "good" or "correct" looks like it's because we're in the enlightened present, and everything "bad" or "wrong" looks like it was because of the ignorant past. But the truth is, there's no separation, and it's exceptionalist to claim that there is. There's a continuity which can't be ignored.

So in a way, it's really just another extension of ego-centrism, just like ethnocentrism, linguocentrism, natio-centrism, etc.; i.e. of being unable to imagine anything outside one's own experience or identity.

It merely expands the "in-group" to "now" rather than drawing spatial or cultural boundaries. Perhaps a more enlightened perspective than those other examples, but still trapped within the delusion of separation.

I digress. Key takeaway: do not feel we are doomed just because it seems grim, because that assumes we are omniscient. In truth, the possibilities for the future might defy the limits of our imaginations. So we mustn't give up; we must keep striving for change.