Death and misery are constants in human existence. Before the modern era there were various wars, rebellions, collapses, plagues, genocides , oppression. Some of those things are still happening now. Materially, now is the best time to be alive if you live in a developed country. Indoor plumbing, electricity, sanitation are standard. We can go the grocery store instead of farming our own food. However there's an oncoming gauntlet of problems heading our way due to unbridled greed, short-sightedness, and placing money above all else. We're currently in the midst of the 6th mass extinction event. The world is getting hotter and drier. Fresh water is getting more scarce. The oceans are getting warmer and more acidic. Suicides are increasing in the US due to shit working life and despair. The oligarchs are successfully keeping people focused and divided on stupid things like which bathrooms trans people should be allowed to use instead of what to do about carbon emissions, deforestation, etc.
The next few decades are going to suck so hard. The climate problems will cause mass migration and cause a ton of strain and maybe even collapse of some social services. Crop failures and extreme weather events will become more common. The North Atlantic current will probably collapse within 100 years. And all this will happen as oligarchs do everything they can to hold onto their money and power. They'll do anything except what's necessary to mitigate the oncoming crises or current problems for that matter. The masses will be pissed off from suffering, having no direction or purpose, and being unable to change the current mode of governance.
I believe things will get much worse before they get better. Humans won't go extinct but I expect many millions to die. Things will get so bad that it costs the oligarchs tons of money which finally forces them to act for the betterment of all humankind.
So why is the world so shitty? Why can't people be decent to each other? Why are we killing our home? Why aren't world leaders making meaningful change to make things better? The answer is money. The answer is always money. Money has a poisonous, corrupting influence on everything.