Then there as never been in the history of this earth a shining beacon of success because at every waking moment there wasn't an optimal number of people immune to all disease, death, and suffering, to no downside to nature around them?

The 90s is where the curve peaked for a lot of people. China had finished bringing 70% of their population out of extreme poverty since the world war era, the USA markets and deficit were stable though heading in a bad direction due to Reagan, and Europe was having a big cultural and tourism boom.