I would argue that there are parts of the world that suffered real world declines in their standards of living, health, safety, welfare, etc, during the modern period. For one, the fortunes of west African kingdoms were completely turned upside down by European intervention and eventually colonialism.
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Except that those same people were even worse off at most points in history.
“Best” does not mean “best possible” or “good for everyone”.
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West Africa has been worse off since European colonialism, and continues to struggle because of European colonialism.
Things would be different if the things that makes us comfortable were more evenly distributed, by they are just not. The “good life” is hoarded and built on the backs of the misery of others. It does not have to be so, as we have developed tools that CAN improve all of our lives. But we’ve MADE choices that more often than not reinforces those inequalities rather than fixes them. 
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I’m going to agree with your overall point. Even though we can definitely find examples of areas that were more prosperous and peaceful in the past than they currently are - still more people in those areas are overall living longer with modern medicine and vaccines and simple things like antibiotics (which aren’t as widely available in some places, but they do exist, vs the past when a broken arm or a deep cut could mean death.)
For sure that doesn’t mean “everything is fine”, and people are still paying for colonialism, wars, and corruption of the past.
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The guy that made Oregon Trail without dysentery also made Sim Nimby. You can’t build anything because there’s a bunch of not in my backyard excuses.
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We’ve chosen to create deep wells of poverty for our comfort. That’s what modern empires have done. This is true within the western world, and between the western world and the rest of humanity.
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