During WWII and the Cold War, other than the present or looming threat of war, things were generally improving. Also, without the internet, people did not really care about far away events.

On the other hand, many of the challenges of today have been known for deacades(plural). A good portion of the anxiety is caused by watching in real-time slow-motion the unfolding of the global selfinflicted trainwreck and observing that all countermeasures are ineffective.

The end of the Cold War set the premises for humanity to have a bright future, yet humanity seems to prefer self-destruction.

Compared to then, humanity now is in a crisis of hopelessness.