I think in general, western democracies do a lot better on elite freedoms than China, or indeed eastern democracies. When it comes to the actual freedom enjoyed

I think in general, western democracies do a lot better on elite freedoms than China, or indeed eastern democracies. When it comes to the actual freedom enjoyed by normal people, it's more patchy. Living in contemporary America, or indeed any fast-paced, high-bill liberal democracy, is essentially a lot of work for most people: usually the vast majority of their waking time is spent at one or more jobs. This usually delivers no real security, they usually have no real control over what they do, to a very fine level (acceptable emotions to display, and so on) during this time. China is like that too, but the only people that would really experience a night-and-day difference are the elite, who coincidentally write all the academic papers, news articles, etc.