[greendragon]

It's really technology that is always getting better. It has been so successful that it's hard to see the decline in so many other things. Factor out technological advances when answering these questions. Are our universities really better than they were 100 years ago? Even just 50? Are our political systems any better than 100 years ago? 2000 years ago? Are our stories any better? Are our People any better? Is our art better? Are humanity's cultures better? I can find points of these where I can argue some aspect is better now than before (but that's usually due to technology -- e.g. the whole genre of sci fi first demands, well, science), and some I could argue for overall being about equal, but for any of those being overall better, I find it a hard claim to make.

[taurath]

For someone like say an LGBT person, western society/culture is objectively less harmful now than ever. Many more examples

[gtirloni]

Compared to the last 100 years or so? It seems some ancient cultures didn't have a problem with it at all (google "homosexuality in ancient times").

[legodt]

Sure but that isn't an intersectional perspective. Ancient societies also had more oppressive gender roles than today

[notaresearcher]

As Poot says in The Wire: "World going one way, people another."

[nowayyeah]

I always wonder: how could we improve humans? (including me).

How to detect bullshit. Make logical choices. Be respectful, etc.

[johnwheeler]

Your points all touch on human nature, and no, that never changes over time.