I can't even begin to comprehend how bad your sources of information are if you think the levels of freedom in the U.S. and China are more closely comparable than those of the U.S. and Australia.
imprisonment of people opposing the regime, especially the intelligence agencies -> check
Torture of prisoners -> check
Overly broad powers of the government without checks and balances -> check
Intelligence agencies spying on all citizens -> check.
Yeah, surely an incomprehensible comparison.
and most of that isn't even new, the veil of the american dream has been ripped apart.
what is most depressing is that in the next election cycle, the american people will just run back to the republicans instead of finally giving up on the charade that are political parties
How does that work exactly? Do banks operate in a vacuum in the economy?
It's my understanding that social program spending (and hence the deficit) over the recession was at all time highs. "Main Street" got its share of the bail out, as it should have.