Big sweeping statements like this are usually pretty dubious, but I think you could make a good case for the idea that in many regions ( Europe, USA, the West) this is the case. For a few examples, torture was mostly removed from government proceedings in the 18th century, and punishment by mutilation was stopped. People stopped regarding it as normal to beat servants for infractions. Men stopped wearing swords or knives at all times. Slavery was abolished. In re-reading Don Quixote not long ago, I was also struck by how often the jokes are cruel- he does something foolish, and is rewarded with a severe beating by muleteers, or comes off his horse and breaks his arm...this was clearly meant to be funny, to 17th c. Spanish readers, but today it often comes off as being rather sad, by comparison. And this movement away from cruelty likely continues..you can also hear similar comments about the old Three Stooges shorts, that it's not funny that they're hurting each other. There's also the recent rise of the Animal Rights movement, and people becoming vegetarian as an ethical choice. These are just some things that come to mind, not organized in any way, but though there still exist places where cruelty is rampant ( Somalia, Syria, North Korea) it does seem as though human life is generally less cruel than it was.