I personally agree with those who claim that the present days are the best period in the history of mankind to be living.
Breakthroughs in science and advancements in technology have dramatically improved our standards of living, at least in the Western world, making life actually worth living. Advances in medical treatments and the invention of new drugs all have allowed us to live long and healthy lives. We no longer face the problems of food and water scarcity, thanks to new agricultural techniques that allow farmers to produce larger quantities of food. Everyone, no matter its race and religion, can receive a proper education and make a decent living out of a good job. We should not also undervalue things such as the freedom of speech, which has not always been guaranteed in the past.
However, if I had the chance to choose an other time in our history to live in, I would opt for ancient Rome. I think it would be interesting to try living in a society whose beliefs and values significantly differs from our. In today’s world, the most valuable personal “qualities” are selfishness and greed. We tend to put ourselves before other, whereas, in my opinion, things were different for the ancient civilizations, for wich the society as a whole came first.
In the end, I think we could learn some very interesting lessons from our past, without having to sacrifice all our the efforts made to get where we are today.