I'm 28 years old. In the time I've been aware of world events, it's felt like the world has been accelerating in a downward spiral towards authoritarianism and away from progress. Things are worse in some places than others, but seemingly no corner of the globe is spared from the trend.<p>I genuinely can't tell how much of this perceived trend is real, and how much of it is a shift in my own perspective. And even then: am I just becoming more aware of how the world has always been, or is an increase in media sensationalism to blame (either for my perspective shift, or for an actual shifting reality?) Does it all come down to the impact of social media, or other technologies enabling oppressors? Is it the increasing concentration of global wealth? Was the latter half of the 20th century just an anomaly where much of the world was turned off to authoritarianism by the second world war, and we're at a point now where that's worn off and we're getting back on with the normal trajectory? Was it just my American information bubble telling me that things were ever somewhat better, even for a few decades?<p>I don't know what to think, but what it feels like is that this train is going off the rails.