Your comment may seem flippant, but honestly it seems like people are more eager to be right than aspirational these days.

It's not about being right, it's about pure attitude - "why this can't work" vs. "let's talk how can we make this work".

I don't think people are actually that defeatist. If it came to a difficult situation in their own lives, I bet they'd rise to the occasion, but they'd rather see others fail than succeed greater than they did.