It's interesting (to me) that centuries ago, plagues could last for decades and the rapidly-declining populations had to put up with this. Obviously they didn't

It's interesting (to me) that centuries ago, plagues could last for decades and the rapidly-declining populations had to put up with this. Obviously they didn't have the scientific knowledge that we have now. However, although we have more knowledge now, we don't yet have a vaccine, nor a political system that puts people first instead of profits, so might we find ourselves in the same situation as our ancestors? Sure, we also have the ability to complain to more people, more quickly, but that's about it.