The future looks less bleak if the goal is not to live the life of that generation. There is AI, there are mobile phones, there is solar power and many more things.

When things are expensive, it means that few resources are used. This is good for the environment.

The big difference is that communication is free. We can talk to almost anybody in the world. This is still a huge untapped potential. That generation had a good life, but ours can be better.