I'm not a believer in "the good old days" either. Granted, I haven't been on this earth for 50 years yet either.
I had an old orange single-speed beater bike as a kid. Nobody would steal that thing. I got a Schwinn Stingray for Christmas, and it promptly disappeared (yes, it was locked). I switched back to the orange beater bike.
People always have been, and always will be capable of terrible things. I prefer to look at the wonderful things they are capable of also. It makes me hate life a little less.