I wonder if authoritarian vs libertarian is on a pendulum as well. Smarter people with smarter choices leading to more libertarians. And then things swinging back because people somehow return to creating too many problems and thus forcing a necessity for authority. Then authority overreaching, people slowly learning, and rinse repeat. Hopefully we're smart enough as a species not to go there again.
Do you have a moment to talk about our good lord and saviour the horseshoe theory?
Near as I can tell both the extreme left (Stalin) and the extreme right (Sparta, no modern analogues exist) are authoritarian. Personal liberty can only exist between those extremes, in times of peace.