Somehow, our ancestors built a free democratic world without having all our advantages. As what we've taken for granted as been assaulted and damaged, it would be good to remember what they acheived, and how they did it, from much worse positions - without even a prior example or history to build on.
They created democracy, women's rights, etc. despite almost an entire human history of doing otherwise. We only have to look back 10 years.
The lack of modern technology is an advantage, not a disadvantage.
It is harder to start any democratic revolution against authoritarianism now than in the past. The modern information age makes it harder, not easier. To search someone's papers, you used to have to get police officers to physically enter their home and break their locks, in front of all their neighbors.
You used to need to enlist 5-10 people to spy on a single potential dissident 24/7, and that surveillance is easier to detect. To effectively spy on a population, you used to need to enlist 10-30% of the population to spy on their neighbors and filter reports.
To get the people's attention, you didn't have to get your message through a chaotic attention economy powered by the platforms that filter the information overload. There was literally a public square where you could reach your audience by handing out hand produced pamphlets.
They created democracy, women's rights, etc. despite almost an entire human history of doing otherwise. We only have to look back 10 years.