It is normal to fall in love when you meet a different culture.
It takes 6 months or so living on a country to start seeing caveats and "not so good things" in any country.
"the shared assumption that services are getting better, progress will happen, and a relentless cycle of innovation"
It is called a "bubble", I traveled frequently to Spain(my native country) and Ireland while the shared assumption that everything was getting better was at full power and all media was talking about those "economic miracles".
When those miracles reversed it was not(and it is not) pretty.
My father lived the Japanese "economic miracle" of Japan, the country that was going to rule the world.
I lived 5 years in China at the beginning of the bubble. It is an entire world in itself, but they have BIG problems. I continue traveling and doing business in China, and it is getting worse day after day.
When I was there I could use a normal VPN without problems, and Chinese authorities could not care less, as it was necessary for the business. But now you have to use like 6 layers of VPN, change patterns of navigation...because people in power is desperate to control their own people.