Which is beside the point -- the point being that modern society was supposed (for most of the 20th century) to be moving AWAY from all that, not back to Dickensian times or worse.
Also I'd note that the "educated sophisticates" are a far higher proportion of population today than before.
Which is beside the point -- the point being that modern society was supposed (for most of the 20th century) to be moving AWAY from all that, not back to Dickensian times or worse.