Jerry's right.
But as he himself points out, he only remembers the recent past. The olden days were not the paradise of freedom we have idealized them to be, and there are other sources of coercion, and brutality, than just the government. They used to burn witches, flog sailors, infect Indians with smallpox, and throw debtors into prison. And much, much worse.
Nostalgia for the past is like the borrowed memory of the immigrant's son--the reason they left the old country was because it was intolerable, the same reason the past has evolved into the present. The brave new world may have its problems, just like the new country may be no paradise, but there are usually very good reasons for the change. Very often it is because there was no choice.