We only ever see America simulated. Even there we never see crime or oppression or poverty (homeless people could even be bots).

If you don't simulate poverty and dictatorships then 1999 could be reasonably friendly. The economy is doing okay and the Internet exists and there is some sense that technology is expanding to meet the world's needs but not spiraling out of control.

But I'm just making most of this up to show that an argument exists; it seems pretty clear that it was written to be in the present day to keep it in the genre of post-apocalyptic lit, in which case using the present adds to the sense of "the world is going downhill."