Interesting topic.
I do think that society and American culture has changed since I've been alive (I'm 35) and based on things I've read and things I've heard from my parents, grand parents, and great grand parents, I couldn't disagree with you more that things are worse now than what they were 60 years ago.
- 60 years ago (1957), Black Americans couldn't really vote.
- According to a 1998 Brookings Institute study, in the 1950's, 44% of White Americans said they'd move if a Black Family moved into their neighborhood. In 1998, only 1% of White Americans polled felt that way.
- According to a recent Pew study, the current Congress is the most racially and ethnically diverse Congress ever.
- We've had a Black President.
- We've had multiple Black Department of State Heads.
- We've had multiple Black Attorney Generals.
- In 1960, the average life expectancy of a man or woman in the US was 69.7 years. In 2017, that average is 81.4 years.
- Between 1950-1955 there were roughly 30-40,000 cases of Polio. Polio has been effectively eradicated in the US.
- In fact, other than a few types of Cancer, several diseases that previously were death sentences have effective treatments (AIDS/HIV for example) that can extend one's life for much longer.
- Women in positions of power in corporations have grown tremendously.
- Women's presence in technological jobs have grown significantly.
- People can access incredible volumes of historical knowledge, literature, etc.
- People can learn new skills through online channels and websites.
- People are willing to create videos of performing various tasks, like changing the oil in a car, and share those videos on YouTube - FOR FREE.
Frankly, as a "Christian", I'm surprised that you wouldn't even consider these things. I'm not going to get into the religious ideology because it doesnt really mean anything. People are going to be assholes regardless of whether or not they go to church on Sundays. Just like people are going to be decent human beings regardless of whether or not they abide by the Bible, Torah, or Q'uran. Decent is decent - and one doesn't need to be religious to be a decent person.
There are 2 main things that I believe are why society is the way it is right now (and why it seems so bad):
1) The Federal Government is far too invasive and large (and therefore too expensive).
- They've consistently drove up our national debt.
- They've turned "service" into "careers" and they by and large have different rules than the rest of us.
- They invest taxpayer dollars poorly.
- They've created an element of dependence on them rather than empowerment.
- Budgets are all about power and not about actually doing the right thing for the US.
- They give money and assets away to foreign governments and call it "foreign aid".
- Since FDR they've consistently taken more and more from the US citizens.
- They've taken a position of instituting government run regulations and agencies that don't work well (ACA) and in some instances are flat out failures (DNI).
- They black mail multiple state-level organizations with funding.
- Since 9/11 they've consistently expanded the Executive Branch's powers more and more to the point now that the Presidency is almost a completely omnipotent figure in the US government.
2) The mainstream media is more or less a tool for dividing and driving votes.
- They perpetuate stereotypes.
- They purposefully cover stories that are meant to be incendiary.
- They push false narratives.
- They leave out facts or twist them to fit an agenda.
- They perpetuate the 2-party system by not letting 3rd party candidates debate during primary elections.
- They're in the pockets of politicians and lobbyists.
I think that by and large, society is pretty decent. I don't think that the shit we see on Fox, CNN, MSNBC, etc every day are what is actually happening. I also think that there is a percentage of the population that gets sucked into the perpetual drama we see on daily news outlets and that just eggs the whole thing on.
So, I say all of that to say that I think you're dead wrong on society being worse in 2017 than it was in 1957.