The US is not even close to totalitarian. Even China, a far more repressive state, is not totalitarian. Totalitarian governments are those that are so authoritarian that they control just about all aspects of life of the residents. Only Eritrea and North Korea fit the bill in today's world.
Yes, OP has a point, but his characterisation of the US is not accurate.
There is a weird "Us and Them" vibe from your comment.
Is the US/Australia/Uk's treatment of Julian Assange (as an example) not count as "oppressive regimes" and "...dissidents, protesters, and political opponents."?
How is that different to <insert country you were thinking of when you wrote "oppressive regimes"> ?
(I ask honestly, not rhetorically)
It's a one-party regime, and that has its downsides, but it's not the same as a dictatorship. Just because it's not as Democractic as the US does not make it a dictatorship.
"Sorry how is that regime any different from the US?" - is that an honest question? Do you really not know how western democracy is different from dictatorial and oppressive regimes in Russia, China, or North Korea?
Every authoritarian regime is a pure hypothetical until it is not. I believe that the US has not fallen to that, partly, because the population is armed to the teeth.
I work in an authoritarian country (Hong Kong) and it s not what you think. You cant transplant a well paid foreigner expecting a breakthrough: his entire team will spend their time enforcing the red tape to teach him to adapt and by the time the money dries out they ll either have an obedient clone of the rest or a frustrated quitter.
Plus, dictatorships arent against the US per se, they re against the US convincing the populace they too could act like americans, and are extremely dependent on that Schrodinger state where you re both the factory for the US and a public political opponent. Symbiotic parasite pretending to be the host's alternative.
Plus the US might change heads at the top, but it s hardly a safe ally to have. Ukraine nearly went to complete disaster thanks to Trump and having morons elected there is a security risk for many too...
If this is not dictatorship, I don't know what is dictatorship then. The Iranian regime or the CCP regime are like ticking bombs on this planet. You have no idea how ridiculous they can be.
Quite. I think I'll stop responding to this thread because we're not going to see eye-to-eye here. Despite the current US President's love for despots and totalitarianism, that doesn't describe the USA.
I belive actual underlings of oppressive regimes around the world would beg to differ.
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