[sxyuan]

It sounds like you have a fair bit of pride in the US, and a fair number of grievances as well. Goodness knows there's plenty of grievances to go around, and I can hardly fault you for having pride in your country and desiring to see better days for it.

So, I suppose I'll just hope (against hope) that you're right in your optimism about these changes.

I'm a Canadian expat who's lived in the US for many years, partly for work and partly because of the relationships built up over these years. I can only laugh a little and shake my head at your notion that Canada is authoritarian. I suppose it all depends on how you define freedom, and whose freedom ultimately matters.

[ctrlp]

You posed the original comment in one frame (costs). I responded with a different frame (politics). If I have a hope from interacting with you and others about our political moment (or history in general) on HN it is simply that you may broaden your horizons on the role and function of government to be more than as a sort of beekeeper of the hive. I have personally done very well materially under late stage global liberalism and have nothing to be resentful about. But even so I find the its ideology inhumane and offensive in the nose.