> It can be annoying as hell, but does mean that we don't react well to authoritative control. I think this is more a fantasy we Americans tell each other, but

> It can be annoying as hell, but does mean that we don't react well to authoritative control. I think this is more a fantasy we Americans tell each other, but it isn't true if you actually look at how we live. Police rob, rape, and murder Americans with impunity. Corporations knowingly poison Americans while spending fortunes trying to hide that fact, and they get away with it (only having to surrender a small fraction of the money they made doing it). Still, the jails are filled to overflowing as America locks up more of her own so called "freedom loving" people than any other nation on planet. Americans are obsessed with punishment and we cheer while people are locked away and their lives are ruined. It doesn't matter what they did, or even if they did it. We've got a government full of people nobody is happy with, and we're only given two parties to choose from anyway. Our constitution is a joke, with our most fundamental rights violated routinely. Fair and speedy trials are rare, while excessive bail, excessive fines, and cruel & unusual punishments are commonplace. The fourth amendment is broken on a regular basis and while three letter agencies just ignore it and do whatever they want, police use things like parallel construction to side step our rights as a matter of policy. It's been a constant struggle to retain the first amendment in any way that matters, and the establishment clause may as well not even exist. For all of our "Ain't no one gonna tell me what to do!" attitude there's very little protest about any of it and Americans pretty much shut up and roll over while they're taken advantage of and their rights are violated. "the US is pretty much a proponent of an unfettered Internet." sounds nice, until you remember that even when clear corruption is discovered (https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/05/biggest-isps-paid-for-8-5-million-fake-fcc-comments-opposing-net-neutrality/ https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2021/05/biggest-isps-pai...) and assholes like Ajit Pai screw Americans we all just let it happen. America is a race to the bottom where we pay more and get less. I wish Americans really did value freedom and resist authoritative control like we pretend it does. The closest we seem to get is a kind of ignorant belligerence. Americans will burn books and shun mask wearing while patting themselves on the back for being such independent rebels but we continue getting screwed over and over again where it actually matters without truck convoys rushing to fight oppression or mass protests in the streets. I'm not accusing anyone, or blaming them for taking it on the chin. I'm just as guilty as anyone else there, but I do wish we'd stop pretending Americans cared about or valued things we clearly don't. I doubt we'll fix anything while we're busy pretending we're something we're not.