There is no parallel to our times. At no point has there been such a threat of total control, ultimate domination, and tempting incentives for the masses to cooperate in their own enslavement.
Humans, in the whole, will almost always choose safety and the laziness over risk and vigor. Most are not and have never been heroic, idealistic, or high-minded. That’s why those of us who admire those virtues (even if we don’t always live up to them) must fight all the harder.