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what did it consist of yesterday though? or tomorrow?

Hi Floffe, welcome, have a seat and I'll give you a cup of tea... hehehe
YESTERDAY (up to 100 years ago) life was hard; physical work, hard, exhausting, all day, every day.
What little free time there was, was devoted to simple pleasures, companionship, play, family, true friendship (I'm simplifying, of course).

There was less consumerism; of objects, but also of experiences and affections. Today everything is disposable. We don't live in depth; we float in the sea of conformism. And TOMORROW will be worse, I'm afraid.

The happiness in the past was sharing, rejoicing together, experiencing. Today it is consuming a lot and quickly, having fun together but often using each other (especially in sex), clouding one's conscience (with alcohol, drugs, deafeningly chaotic music etc.).

the funny thing is people have said the past was pure but the present has become decadent for all of human history

Pure is perhaps an exaggeration, it was simple, linear, natural, the same for everyone. Today everything is complicated, too many things, too many choices, everything is fast and precarious. The mind of the individual is confused, wavering, jumping here and there, not at peace, serene, always searching, never simply looking at the here and now.

I'm sure there are examples of people saying the exact same thing both 50, 100, 500, and 1000 years ago, also you said everyone today bows to conformism - e.g. "the same for everyone", yet now you said the past was the same for everyone and not now

By the "same for everyone" I meant that entertainment was few and simple (sports, theater, playgrounds, village festivals); there wasn't the technology and numerous distractions of today.
Conformism is something else: it's imitating others to feel important, for fear of being isolated.
You understood what I meant: don't play with words. Look at the facts, the substance.

It is very true that in the past the same criticisms were made of earlier times, but the growth of technology, and the fall of morality and religion, has happened mostly recently. The twentieth century represents an epochal turning point.

The conformism you mentioned above was entirely relevant in older times though. And even if "morality and religion was upheld in the past", it did not stop people from committing immoral and irreverant acts? I don't think it represents *that much* of a turning point when it comes to human morality.

you may even argue that the weak human morality is a reason why religion is neccessary in the first place

Religion especially, the fear of punishment in the afterlife, restrained many people from doing evil. The many hours of hard work did not give others time to do it. A busy mind has no time to fantasize, to crave and devise evil.