All you have to do is turn on the news and it is overwhelming how much hate, violence, and selfish greed abounds.  If you work in a job involving customer service, you will also find an abundance of demanding, rude, and self entitled people who thrive on making enough of a scene to get what they want.  When I think back to how society was in my early childhood years and compare it to today, I would definitely have to say that it makes for more difficult times. The more godless or self centered a society becomes the more that society begins to implode ( collapse inward upon itself).  

Paul gives warning that as society abandons the truths and values of God, times will get more difficult for all.

“But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.” (1-5)

Well, we can't avoid such people all together, but we can make wise choices about who we surround ourselves with in our groups of intimate friends and companions. Instead of letting the world influence and change us, we should hope to influence and change the world.  As God gets pushed to the sidelines of modern culture, we have a responsibility to be light in a world growing ever darker.

Have you known persecution?  Paul says to expect it if you are a follower of Christ "Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.."  but as he continues, he also shows us that sinners suffer a self inflicted persecution.