That's one way to look at it. Another way is to ask yourself whether we could've been much farther ahead, as a civilization and a species, in terms of quality of life, human rights, technology and science, and so on, in 2013 given what we had accomplished already in say 1913, or even 13. I think the answer is a solid yes, we could've been 100 times ahead of where we are now. I wouldn't congratulate ourselves just because we have some professions where people don't suffer injuries at work, that's a pretty low bar we should've crossed ages ago. (I realize this is a tangent and I'm not really arguing against your main point...)
In the years between now and 1913, Europe has risen from literally centuries of war, China has lifted more people out of poverty than I can fathom, the USA has made great strides towards equality and we have made the first steps towards being a spacefairing civilisation. Medical technology has advanced a hundredfold, or even a thousandfold.
We still have quite a way to go, but we should not kid ourselves into thinking we have not come a long way already lest we begin to slip back again.
That's one way to look at it. Another way is to ask yourself whether we could've been much farther ahead, as a civilization and a species, in terms of quality of life, human rights, technology and science, and so on, in 2013 given what we had accomplished already in say 1913, or even 13. I think the answer is a solid yes, we could've been 100 times ahead of where we are now. I wouldn't congratulate ourselves just because we have some professions where people don't suffer injuries at work, that's a pretty low bar we should've crossed ages ago. (I realize this is a tangent and I'm not really arguing against your main point...)