And yet the history of the 20th century, there are plenty of cases where a society has _regressed_ along this axis. Sometimes quite suddenly. European fascism

And yet the history of the 20th century, there are plenty of cases where a society has _regressed_ along this axis. Sometimes quite suddenly. European fascism is the obvious example, but it's also really interesting to look at the trajectory of social freedom in places like China, Iran, Afghanistan, etc. Progress is not guaranteed.