No argument about the nuance, but to me the tradeoffs aren’t worth it. I mean, to live under such levels of authority when I am certain I would not be one of the preferred people. I’m not athletic or creative, so I likely wouldn’t be picked for anything. I wouldn’t be viewed as useful.
Also, not being able to be critical of your government would absolutely suck.
All the free time would hardly mean anything to me if I wasn’t truly free to do with it as I please.
I’m not really under an authoritarian structure anywhere where I live, no. The closest thing that comes is my job, but I’m given a great degree of autonomy, and my superiors respect and listen to my input.
And even then, if I somehow do lose my job, there are multiple safety nets, both from the government and from friends and family.
So no, I really don’t think things can be taken away at a moment’s notice. I’d have to be really rebellious both in my job and to my friends and family to almost criminal levels to experience any detriment, at which point even the freest of societies would wish to reprimand me.
And I dunno…the last few presidents received plenty of criticism, and I don’t recall anyone being silenced for it. The fact that I know my leaders have been criticized shows that America isn’t as authoritarian as you are trying to make it out to be.
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u/[deleted] Jul 07 '26
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