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.
> 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.
