Clearly in the before times, prior to the madness setting in.
People like James Randi would have claimed they lived in the mad times. I think it's hard to judge whether it actually is better or worse now. If you're on social media, it's definitely possible to perceive that it's obviously worse now...but that's a function of yours and the social media company's actions in terms of what shows up in one's feed, not necessarily of reality.