We briefly had an age where, with some effort, the masses could keep the powerful in check. As you say…it’s disappearing now.

It's more like a pendulum that has been picking up speed in accordance to the power individuals (or groups of elites) can own.

E.g. a Roman emperor might've had absolute power in his day, but he still couldn't fuck it up for the whole planet at once, for example. Now, not so much, although we've had better periods in between.