[vkou]

The law wasn't in the state that you ascribe to it for the other 99% of its history if you were, say, African-American. Other less-extremely obvious examples also abound.

Liberal democracy with sometimes-fair application of it is the aberration.

[mmooss]

By that reasoning any advance is an aberration and thus hopeless, but we've had liberal democracy for a long time. Again, certainly not perfect.

[vkou]

Advance or regression is not the way you probably want to look at it. There isn't a lot of evidence for historical inevitability.

And no, we have not been a liberal democracy for 'a long time'. We have been an illiberal democracy with very limited suffrage and distribution of rights for a very long time.

[mmooss]

> There isn't a lot of evidence for historical inevitability.

You're the one arguing for that; I'm saying it's up to us whether we advance or go backward. Generations before us have moved us forward, so it's definitely very possible.

The definitions are just a distraction.