Progress is not a straight line

Washington

PROGRESS has lately gotten a bad rap, because there seems to be so little of it. Violence wracks the Middle East; economies are sputtering; Ebola strikes fear. But if you step back a bit, there's plenty of progress. We ought to remind ourselves periodically that, in history's broad sweep, the long-term advances often overshadow the short-term defeats.

How far should we step back? How about 1820.