text: You decry the system that routinely tops the List of Happiest Countries?  I only lived in Scandinavia a year, but I had no sense of this lack of freedom you are imagining, nor having been surrounded by autobots or crushing weight of an oppressive state.  They are as individual as we are, and enjoy things like free education, decent health care for all, fantastic public transportation, and a nimble and inventive social system that won't let anyone have to hit rock bottom.  Also their numerous political parties prevent politicians and innovation from stagnating like ours has.  Have you noticed how bad capitalism is at a number of these things?  It is because capitalism is a system that revolves around money and how citizens can provide that, and their system revolves around their citizenry and how money can benefit them.  You seem to presume that the US has discovered some kind of utopian paradise that can't be had any other way, but I suggest that your measuring stick is rather small.