"Very few people alive these days did" say Clinton - ie live through World War Two.

Hell, it's not that long ago. Anyone older than 62 lived through all of it. (And if you're an American you can be a couple of years younger than that and still have lived through the American version.)

The truth is any number of things are worse than they used to be, and some things are better. There are periods when the things that are better are more important than the things that are worse, and some when it's the other way round. But I think it can be useful to keep an eye on things that are getting worse, because sometimes it's a good idea to fix them. It isn't negative to point out that a guitar needs to be put back into tune every now and then, and now is one of those times.

Incidentally, I think the quality of folk music being produced today in the British Isles anyway, is probably overall better now than it has been for a long time. Probably far better than during the Great Folk Scare. (And that's balanced out by a lot of other types of music which aren't...)