How Far Have We Have Come?

In 1869, the Wyoming Territory gave women the right to vote. The Utah territory followed suit in 1870. But when women's suffrage was discussed at length by the House Judiciary Committee in 1871, these reforms were not mentioned. This struck me as odd, so I looked into the issue and discovered that nobody in Washington (including activists like Susan B. Anthony) were aware of these developments at the time. Wyoming and Utah might as well have been Mars and Venus.

Today, of course, we instantly know everything that happens everywhere. Is that better or worse?