Comment by lostinroutine

Not the poster, but I concur that things weren't all that different in 2017. I would say that OP's reaction is caused by selectively remembering the state of the world. Living in the environment where mass media is ubiquitous, you don't quite realize just how bad things are or the negative effects it has on people. You only become aware of that after being removed from it for a period of time (e.g. being in prison) and then getting reintroduced to it.