@sillysaurus, it also saddens me when Westerners schrilly dismiss their countries as corrupt or undemocratic when if the just looked around at the rest of the word and see how much they have, which they ought be proud of and protect. But their are two caveats:

First, the west is freer than the rest because it is more able to criticize even the little things.

Second, electronic surveillance is not longer even one of the little things. It happens out of sight, and mostly out of mind, so authorities now act without the kinds of restraint usual in the west. And rich western governments are actually more capable of this sort of thing that most others.