Yes. Life is much better now. MUCH better!
You must be one of those who think the Ozzie and Harriet days of the 50s and 60s were idyllic.
Well, those years were are great deal better than now. This is not a "think" this is an observation. Of course, those years were not "perfection". They were just better.
The crud present today is peretrated largely by a government that is stupid, over-reactionary, overbearing, distrustful of its own citizens, and working hard to curb Constitutional Rights. Political correctness and chronyism shackels those in government who are good and would do the right thing.
The restrictions on good law-abiding citizens are now remarkable. Symptoms include controls on amatuer rocketry, scientific experimentation, mere possestion of some things, and so on. Children can be arrested for taking a TOY GUN (shudder) to school. The number of things that have become felonies are mind boggling. You'd have to walk awhile in my shoes to understand the differences. The government just plain mistrusts and hates its own citizens now. Do you call all of this an improvement?