What period of time would you rather live in?
So yeah, there sounds a lot better. No walls to stop friends from coming, or you from leaving if you happen to not like it.
Just because we lack imagination doesn't mean a better world can't exist and didn't exist somewhere in the past.
Sounds like they probably regretted not building walls.
The point is that the average person is better off today than they were any time in the past by many metrics, e.g. life expectancy, quality of life or access to healthcare.
Nobody said the status quo doesn't need to be changed, only that we should appreciate the pax americana despite its faults.