Try opening a business in this "free country" and see how that goes. For example, try opening a butcher shop to sell clean, American grown beef, and see how long you get to stay in business in this "free country" when you fail to order the right brand of anti-bacterial floor mat, or don't have the shop partitioned the way the USDA inspectors you trust so much like to see it.
Stop paying your property tax (aka county rent/tithe) and see if you really "own" your land in this 'free' country.
Try going to a street corner to exercise your free speech and say that hispanics are destroying this country....see how long you get to exercise your "free speech."
For the small businessman, indeed, the PRC is 'freer' than America. In China, the government doesn't jack with you until you've made it big. If you want to open a local auto-garage, you just nail a sign up. If you turn it into a multi-million RMB biz, then they might come in and nationalize you or put the bribe on you, but at least the little guys can get started without getting hauled into court for violating OSHA or ADA bs.
America -was- the land of the free. But all the "there oughta be a law" folks killed her and have turned her into a socialist state ruled by lawyers....we just haven't admitted it yet.
As an ex-small business owner, I cannot agree more... The wife even commented that the government (city, county, state, federal, plus ADA, ad naseum...) couldn’t do more to crush a business if they tried.