There is certainly elements that are much better than it always was. Anyone claiming not is missing facts. Although the stories make it sound like there was once a perfect world. Torah was in many ways looked down upon.
There were thousands of Am Haratzim who barely could read. There were ע”ה דורי דורות
There were many Bnei Torah who couldn’t even find a shiduch, being that they were looked down as being disconnected and as batlanim etc.
All this has changed in the last few generations, you wouldn’t find too many that can not read a siman in Mishnah Brurah or Kitzur etc.
There are thousands in Isreal and the US who are sitting and learning in depth sugyas on all aspects of the Torah.
On the other hand, there has been a shortage of true and ethentic Gadolim as there once was. All you need to do is look on the seforim of today’s Gadolim and compare it to the seforim of prewar Gadolim. It’s not even close. What we have today are “experts”, each on his own issues, there aren’t any that are truly sufficient in all areas if the Torah.