The very fact that I can say "Screw government Policy X" and "Trump is a liar" or "the NSA's surveillance policy is unAmerican" without fear of being arrested o

The very fact that I can say "Screw government Policy X" and "Trump is a liar" or "the NSA's surveillance policy is unAmerican" without fear of being arrested or reeducated, very clearly says we are more free than a citizen of China, without even delving into the threats to freedom faced by ethnic minorities in China. Effecting change in government policy is a poor metric of personal freedom as there are a number of competing interests, each rooted in their personal freedom to try to effect change. Yes, many of us are disappointed in how things were handled since 2008, but clear policy solutions don't always exist, and I do not think the people clearly coalesced around any set of them and then failed to implement them. Why? Because the actions taken to effect a recovery were good enough that we didn't collectively starve. Revolutions and huge political upheavals take starvation (The Depression), death (Vietnam), or a clear solution to unfair suffering (Civil Rights Movement).