All arguments are based on personal pleasant memories. Remembering the past days, a person scrolls in his memory the good that he had then. We now live in the age of information technology, from iOS operating systems to artificial intellects. New innovative discoveries greatly facilitate and improve our lives. If the comparison of "now" and "then" is in favor of the past - he is convinced that the world is not the same, it was once good, but today it is bad. Speaking about specific points - earlier, indeed, it could have been better. A person is aging, health is gradually leaving, there are fewer positive impressions, and more negative ones. This only strengthens the belief that everything is bad now. But these are only subjective impressions, due to the specifics of human psychology. Psychological component Our brain is designed in such a way that pleasant moments of the past are recorded in memory much better than negative. Of course, severe stresses remain forever, so a person remembers a war, armed robbery or fire in a house for life. But less severe stresses eventually go deep into the memory, or even completely forgotten. Pleasant moments, at the same time, are remembered much better. Even winning 100 rubles in the lottery in the distant 70s can gain a foothold for life and evoke pleasant memories. Remembering this, a person is immersed in nostalgia. This specificity of the brain is part of the natural defense mechanisms. Stresses that have a negative impact, over time, "hide deep" or are deleted from memory, like extra files on your computers hard drive. If this did not happen - a person in difficult conditions could go crazy already in the third or fourth ten, under the pressure of everything experienced before. Positive memories, by contrast, have a positive effect. By acting on the brain, they can cause an increase in the level of serotonin and other neurotransmitters involved in mood formation. Therefore, a person who is not very comfortable right now, thanks to pleasant memories, can feel better and deal with manifestations of depression. So was it better before? It was. But not everyone. And not always. And it was worse too. If we talk about the world or the country as a whole, then in every time, in every formation, there are both pros and cons. Therefore, to say that it's worse now than then, or vice versa, is impossible, this is a delusion. It all depends on the specific person, the position that he occupied and occupies in society. It is more correct to say that it was not the world that was better, but a person who thinks so. Better not in terms of personal qualities (although this also often happens), but in terms of physical condition, health, material and social status. The one whose best years are long behind, really, can only nostalgic for a bright past. And nothing can be done about it, the psyche is so arranged.