You're probably too young to remember when the US was still a free country. The post 9/11 police state is all you've ever known.
When I was in high school in the 80's we had a guy who visited the USSR come and give a talk about what it was like there. After it was over I asked him, do the people there want to be free?
He said, that they don't even know what freedom is.
@freepatriot Did he also talk about how expensive jeans were from the USA and how you could smuggle them in your briefcase and make a lot of money? I remember this part of the narrative. :)