But in the period of the article (2008) things aren't as rosy as you paint. Car fatalities are up on a per mile basis. Life expectancy is flat (and turning down recently). Electric outages are up. Work-from-home is counter balanced by some pretty awful working standards for others (amazon).

By your metrics, it'd be hard to argue that things aren't getting worse in last decade. I'm not arguing things are worse now, just that you chose bad measures.