I think where Dr. Hanson is correct is where he is talking about large infrastructure projects. The 19th and early 20th centuries saw extraordinary infrastructure projects undertaken all over the world and they were indeed often completed remarkably quickly.
For example, the Trans-Siberian Railway was constructed in just 15 years. Regulation, presumably, is a major reason why these kinds of projects now take so much longer than they used to. In the case of the TSR, for example, the foundations were too narrow, the ballast layer was too thin, the rails were too light and frequently warped, the crossties were too widely spaced and prone to splintering, and bridges that should have been built from metal were actually built from wood and sometimes just collapsed. It was the most dangerous railroad in the whole Russian Empire and trains had to travel at just 15 mph to avoid derailment. Reliance on convict and exile labor meant that much of the railroad was in fact deliberately sabotaged by the men who were supposed to be building it. It was also hugely unreliable with trains sometimes being delayed by several days at a time, often without food for those on board. By the time the TSR was completed, it accounted for 20 percent of Russia’s national debt.
As for Mars, don’t underestimate the challenge of taking an unmanned craft to Mars and making a successful landing. Earth to the moon is 238,900 miles. Earth to Mars is about 160,786,000 miles. The fact that humans have been able to land craft on the surface of Mars is absolutely amazing.
Of course, there’s bad stuff on the internet, but the invention of the internet has been an absolutely revolutionary scientific innovation. Its impact goes far beyond the impact of radio, TV, or film. The internet has allowed the almost instantaneous sharing of information virtually anywhere in the world. It has transformed almost every area of human activity. It’s changed how we engage in economic activity, how we fight wars, how our political system works, how we study, and how we communicate with people all over the world.
I do agree that those women were only building on the achievements of previous generations, but the truly extraordinary thing is how women holding positions of power has become completely normal. In the UK, for example, four out of their last six home secretaries have been women. In Finland, 12 out of the 19 ministers in their government are women, including the prime minister and deputy prime minister. Their government is a coalition of five parties, all of which are led by women. 47 percent of members of the Finnish parliament are women. Since 1789 only 56 women have served in the US Senate. The first was Rebecca Felton, who served for one day in 1922. Today, however, 25 US senators are women (increasing to 26 on 3 January next year). Crucially, between 1922 and 1992 the number of women in the senate fluctuated between zero, one, and two: there was no overall growth in numbers. Since 1992, however, the number of women in the senate has been steadily increasing. It’s reasonable to guess that within a generation women will make up 50 percent of the US Senate.
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