Many people here have a dystopian view of the future. I'm much more positive about it. If you think about it, there is no better time to be alive than right now. We live in the best conditions that humans have ever lived in. We have the lowest mortality rate in history. The lowest infant mortality, death from disease, and exposure to violence. The world was an incredibly shitty place to live in until 100-200 years ago. We have the highest wealth, the best overall health, best education, and highest literacy rate in history. Technology allows us to perform acts of magic like flying across oceans and standing on the moon. And it seems to me that on the most important quality of life indicators, things are still getting better -- there's lower infant mortality and higher literacy today than 20 years ago. Of course, that's because the third world is still improving and catching up to first world standards. Some specific things get worse. There's an obesity epidemic in the United States, but life expectancy keeps going up! Even as we get unhealthier in some respects, we are living longer because medicine keeps improving. There's no better time in human history to get a disease than right now, because you have the best chance of curing it. And the only better time there will be to get a disease is in the future. As for freedom and law, you again have to take a global and historical view. Maybe if you're a white, middle class drug user, things are getting worse, because drug sentences are getting longer, but is that worse than segregation? Is that worse than Jim Crow laws? Is that worse than slavery? Is it worse than middle age feudalism or living under the rule capricious and blood thirsty emperors? Sure, some of that stuff still happens, but more people live under democracy now than ever. Globally, people are more free than ever. And even if your main concern is freedom to do drugs... I have more drugs available to me right now than ever in my life. I don't see how things are getting worse. At least, not overall.