Is it the case that our 21st century is one iota better, if not entirely worse, than the period centuries prior to both modernity and post-modernity?

I dare to say this: we are elevated technologically and in some ways perhaps morally but for all that have missed out on our true self-identities. Not in the absolute sense of "I am the absolute" - but the provisional identities which we used to take much more seriously.

What do you think? Back in the day, when religion, honor, and virtue were still living concepts, they actually meant something in real life interaction, so much so that people were willing to kill themselves rather than sacrifice their identities.... Where can we find that kind of valour and integrity nowadays? All is humor, and people's idea of "profundity" amounts to listening to a Beatles record....

Perhaps I'm just receding as a person into the stone age, but somehow I feel I've got a valid point.

The 21st century is conviction-less, and I don't pretend to be any different.