Since we're talking about grandparents, here's some context:
https://www.flightglobal.com/pdfarch...0-%200302.html
The MAX is twice as heavy and powerful as the original. (The heaviest A321 seems to be about one-third heavier than the initial standard A320.) The Flight piece describes a very simple airplane, with mostly duplex systems, that could withstand the failure of almost anything powered, short of the loss of two engines, and had no stab-aids other than a stick-shaker and a yaw damper.
Is there a limit to evolutionary development?
PS - Does anyone know if there's anything MCAS-like on the P-8A? It's based on the NG, of course, but its mission involves the sort of maneuver where MCAS would kick in, and there are conditions where the aircraft might have more of an aft cg than the commercial airplanes, given the aft weapon bay and the heavy pressurized sonobuoy launchers in the back of the cabin.