Daas Torah is quite clear on this. the generations go down in greatness, their spiritual weakness and susceptibility to the Y’H increase as we get farther from Har Sinai.
applying logic as to why this is not true is not compatible with our Mesorah
the Takanos against immorality increased more and more as the generations deteriorated. It is not that later Gedolim were meaner or stricter than earlier ones, they Takanos increased because the need for them increased.
this point is not really arguable by anyone who has a depth of understanding of Torah and our history.
i wont belabor the point further