Has the world changed much in the last 40 years?

Here are some lyrics from Eve Of Destruction
By Barry McGuire, 1965

The eastern world it tis explodin',
violence flarin', bullets loadin',
you're old enough to kill but not for votin',
you don't believe in war, what's that gun you're totin',
and even the Jordan river has bodies floatin',
but you tell me over and over and over again my friend,
ah, you don't believe we're on the eve of destruction

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And then from 1988, Pet Shop Boy’s

Dictation being forced in Afghanistan
Revolution in South Africa taking a stand
People in Eurasia on the brink of oppression
I hope it's going to be alright
I hope the music plays forever

Forests falling at a desperate pace
The earth is dying, and desert taking its place
People under pressure on the brink of starvation
I hope it's gonna be alright

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Keeping politics out of it (The first song came out when a Democrat was president, the second on when a Republican was president) what is going on here?

I think overall, the world is more peaceful than it ever has been (Especially taking the population numbers in account). More people a enjoying freedom and a higher standard of life than anytime in the past.

One thing that has changed is our ability to see what is going on all over the world. In the past, people on one side of the world would have had no idea what is going on on the other side.

Is it just every generation has its doomsayers thinking their time is the worst in world history?