I would say that "back in the day" things happened slower.
The "Average person" in the US has more leisure time as a % of those 100 years ago.
Things however are not equal across the globe, there are still people living like we did here 100 years ago
Resource rich land and freedom of the gov'ment in the US enabled that.
The only thing that is consistent in this world is CHANGE.
"Whitey on the Moon"