Major balance issue for Minecraft as a whole

You see, I've come to notice quite a glaring issue with the direction Minecraft is headed.  Minecraft is, obviously, meant to be a sandbox game.  However, as time goes on, modern Minecraft begins to feel more and more like modded Minecraft.  The game seems to be more about adventure than sandbox nowadays.  If you choose to stay home and work on your base, the best gear you can get is diamond.  However, if you choose to adventure you'll literally get a pair of wings and movable chests, as well as armor and equipment that make you nearly invincible.  Not only is this unfair in a multiplayer setting, but it encourages you to go on grand adventures rather than build elaborate bases.  A lot of the recent updates have been to biomes, structures, dimensions, ETC.  The problem is that players who aren't as good at the game or who prefer a more relaxed playstyle don't get to experience the new stuff unless they go out of their way to.  Furthermore, things like Minecarts were actually nerfed in 1.8 and are nearly useless now, whereas horses are as good as ever.  This is despite the fact that horses can bring you literally anywhere, whereas minecarts can only bring you places you've been.  In the past, with a little bit of mining, you could be good as anyone else.  Sure, you could fight the wither or beat the ender dragon, but the rewards wouldn't be game-breaking.  Now players who choose not to adventure are at an extreme disadvantage to those who do.  Players in iron gear can kill players in diamond gear, but it is incredibly difficult for a player in diamond gear to kill a player in Netherite gear, especially when they have a totem that gives them a second life and a pair of wings they can slip on to escape.  This is topped off by the fact that gear like Elytras and Shulker Boxes make it even easier to adventure, which means you can help your friends adventure and gather a gang of thugs to bully everyone on the server.  There is no escape from the invincible people with wings, there's joining them or joining a new server.  Doesn't really sound fair to me :/

PS: Almost forgot to mention that new Minecraft IS fun, it just feels completely different than old Minecraft and requires you to have friends now more than ever.  Minecraft has lost it's simplicity after over a dozen major updates, and while that is to be expected, I would at least hope it could retain the same core elements over time and build upon them rather than phasing out and replacing old elements of the game.