I think these are great counterpoints, and important to consider.I would offer that I think we are more worried about dystopia because we are so much more aware of all of the ways the world can turn into a dystopia, but I don't think that necessarily tracks with the actual likelihood of dystopia.I read a lot of history, and I occasionally find myself wishing I had lived in a... more "exciting" time, or a more authentic time, but then I remember that I would probably just be a normal person in that exciting or authentic time, possibly not even aware of the exciting-ness because I'd be trying not to starve to death or die of cholera.We feel like a ton of crazy stuff is happening all the time, but history has always been that way. You'd be hard pressed to live for 80 years (period, ha!) in any historical period anywhere in the world and not end up going through at least one or two of wars, famines, disease-outbreaks, oppressive governments, fires, earthquakes, riots, etc. And maybe it'd be easier to deal with because you wouldn't see it coming on twitter for two months before it killed you... but man, reading history, a lot of people die, all the time, often for no reason or really bad reasons. And fewer people die now, but we're a lot more aware of it.
The world has been chaotic, but people were too preoccupied with survival to notice. As a result, chaos often went unnoticed. However, today is different. People have finally taken notice, but it's not because they've suddenly become aware of the world's problems. Rather, it's because their basic needs are finally being met, and they're no longer preoccupied with where their next meal is coming from.