[Zhukov]

Things are getting better if compared to a hundred years ago, but rights and freedoms are won and lost in cycles.

Take a look at around the time of the French revolution; things improved enormously, and then slipped back to almost what they started to (just slightly better). Then around the time of the Russian Revolutions and after the First World War, again things got very good for most of the world, (in comparison to what they were) and then concessions won were slowly taken away until after the Second World War. Then it was 68-69 when people fought for their rights and pretty much lost, more concessions were given in the 80s and 90s, and they are slowly being scaled back since 9/11.

Things aren't getting WORSE in comparison to what they were even 50 years ago (at the moment) but governments do as much as they possibly can to scale back all reforms, rights and freedoms won from unions, popular vote, protests etc. What has happened in the past is that people accept it for a certain amount of time before erupting into anger again. I'm an optimist, but whether that happens any time soon remains to be seen.