obviously, america's free speech laws are hypocritical, not followed through with, and use cynically to strengthen capital.

one thing i hear quite often as an anti communist trope is that living in ussr/china/cuba/etc, you always had to be careful with what you said, or the government would have you taken away and/or killed.

i mean part of me understands that you need to crack down on any encroachment of capitalism, and that people that leave your country are most likely from a certain class who opposes communism (in blackshirts and reds, parenti notes that much of the dissent in late ussr was from the academic class who frequently emigrated to the us), but what does the reality look like living there? any stories from differing sources/classes?