My condolences on your distressing personal circumstances. I hope you look back on it happy that you have become a better person because of it, and glad to have learned from it.

"...I'm talking about changes as drastic as the end of anyone having any power over anybody at all."

I don't think that can be avoided. Technology always increases the power of individuals versus institutions, and institutions are the vectors of political power. Across all fields of industry, the cutting edge of technological advance is decentralization. Centralization depends on parasitization, and in turn enables overlords to possess power over chattel. Decentralization creates cooperation between peers.

The more able to make our own goods and services we become, the less power overlords have over us. Since physics determines what is technically possible, mandates decentralized means of production, and we clever monkeys tinker interminably, we will gain more and more power as individuals to secure our persons from overlords and institutional power.

We are becoming more free as technology advances every day. It's easy to observe that oppressive police states deploying facial recognition, sonic weapons, or any such technological devices are able to more oppress civilians. However, it's impossible that technology does not become dispersed to individuals as means of making our own devices burgeon. States lose power because of facial recognition technology, not gain it, because states are vectors for corruption, and are dependent on covert acts by secret agents. Facial recognition tech is already available to civilians, and as it continues to disperse will increasingly limit the ability of corrupt states to hide their crimes using covert agents.

Similar benefits come from sonic weapons, microwave weapons, and any new tech you can name when civilians get it, and when you project into the future you can see that the power of institutions will continue to decline as decentralization continues to increase the ability of individual civilians to create their own goods and services, which includes security devices.

While I am certain this will not happen without changing culture, it is something that will happen as long as people tinker regardless of the culture they organically create, or have forced upon them. Freedom from overlords is inevitable, and only our extinction can prevent it.

Take heart, because we will be free.