Where, oh where, did the United Federation of Planets go? Far, far away it now seems- empty of prejudice, more or less rational with abundance for all, capped by a confidence in our own abilities- the future used to look so different then. We used to believe that good stuff was in our path, something ultimately achievable if we devoted our minds and hands to the cause. Yet in a quantum world we came, we saw, we observed, and that observation changed both the observed and the observer. Watching the future changed the future and us as well. (Is there room for a comfy conceit that as the "future" grew worse, we grew better? We'll have to see about that!)
Compare what ENT portrays and how little it looks like that. Remember the promises built into the premise of a prequel? That we'd see the accomplishments of stellar humanity in "... their infant, trial-and-error stages, before they end up being what we know them to be." Yeah, what happened to that? The Romulan War and the founding of the Federation proved so infertile to the farming skills of the current cultivators that what we got instead was the wrong conflict and frivolous soft core. Hopes were strapped into a cart of phony physics sent careening down that twisty knotted track called a timeline.
What soiled this otherwise fragrant ointment? The Xindi Arc was a reaction that should have been channeled alternately into the Nemesis thread. It's proved to be a needless detour. No, the stinkiest fly is unquestionably the Temporal Cold War. Archer and his crew have never, will never - aren't allowed to ever - solve the problems of their day. They are depicted as children, as shadows without substance, powerless before the sway of the omniscient sprite Daniels. (Like Picard and Q only without the charming badinage or wit.) It's the emasculation of the human spirit of exploration.
Building on the most productive body of work in the video era required only the most evanescent catalyst to go on and create great things. What we got was pretty much the backside of a Vulcan. (Quite a callipygian backside but that's besides the point.) If the direction makers hadn't been dilatory in soliciting assistance or as originally orgulous over the fanbase that bears their meal-ticket, course corrections could have been implemented. Nowadays no one knows. But we do know to remember the dream of a better, grander future. No matter how bad things may look, we can make it so.