"Positive changes underneath the headlines" might be right. If we go back 100 years, we have made many progressive changes despite the opposition to progressive causes.

While my skills at political fortune telling leave much to be desired, there is a possibility of the USA turning into a one-party nation soon. If so, this one party will either screw things up so bad that there will be another revolution within a decade OR it may actually address a few things wisely. For example, a UBI in the USA is more likely with a Republican dictatorship than the two-party hegemony.

We may be moving forward in interesting ways.

But to reach our true potential, we need to abandon both western democracy and wise dictators.