If this were the case, the world would have been in a truly woeful condition throughout almost all history! There have undoubtedly been times, often revolutionary times, when nations were energised and "got it together"; and other times when things fell apart.
Let me tell you a story. Many years ago, a relative who served with the British occupation forces after WWII reported on a conversation with an old German who had lived through both world wars. The German was no apologist for Hitler, for the Fuhrer had brought about the ruin of his country.
The (democratic) Weimar Republic, he said, had been sickeningly decadent, a squalid period of German history, but after the Nazis had come to power something wonderful began to happen. Throughout all ages, even among the writings of the ancient Greeks, men had despaired of the younger generation. But in the late 1930s, he had a revelation that the young people of his country were better than his own generation had been. They were better fed, healthier in mind and body, more self-confident, better mannered, better educated, more idealistic, more generous, better citizens. Thanks to the Hitler Youth, and other NSDAP-supported organisations, the pride they felt for the Fatherland translated into a pride they felt in themselves.
I felt a great joy in this moral regeneration, the old German had said, so that I did not want the young to share my own cynicism and doubts.
Things are never simple!
No things are rarely simple. But I think if you look at most of human history, things were pretty woeful by our standards today. Life was not easy, disease, torture, war and the concept of fairness under the law was an alien concept.