@50sFarmGirl societal regression is entirely possible, happened many times historically (up to complete collapse)
The myth "you never had it so good" is just that, a narrative that can be, and is, abused
Democracy, equality, fairness, sustainability, all the good things - including very humanism itself - are neither built-in nor the only attractors. The evil path is always one turn away and its dark endpoints cunningly concealed.
We need to be constantl alert, fight, invent, build, rebuild.