Host pathogen interactions in a non-natural world

People are always complaining that things were better in the past. I am no exception: being a pathogen back in the day was way easier than it is now. Paradoxically, some people say that being a host in the past was easier, and that it will become more and more difficult in the future, with pathogens taking over the world. Is there a way we can reconcile these opposing views? But, before I get to this question, let me ask you another: what kind of pathogen would you like to be in the next hundred years?