Yes, I very clearly remember the not so faraway past when shoes last decades, when non-filled soles (as opposed to e.g. grids of blades) would have been considered a crime and an obvious matter of public health, and similarly for the use of toxic materials.
I also remember the times when machinery used quality material and lasted accordingly; when blinding lights were obviously considered a basic matter of health and when beeps and bebibeep melodies were considered a nuisance. And much more.
I grant you: the past offered people and systems with common sense - now largely gone.