"there is NO country today which is as badly off as EVERY country was 200 years ago" - I can name a few middle east countries that are worse off...and some African countries as well.

I think something else that needs to be considered is that all these years since 1945 Germany was held in check. This is increasingly not the case anymore and no matter how modern and progressive we think we are Germany always seems to have a penchant for starting wars. This time around, with them in control of the entire EU, it won't be so pretty and it is likely we will not last through it.