Yes … but they ARE jailed (or worse). And they all know the Party has shit on them and they still chose to rise. That’s their game… what’s the western equivalent? Be born rich, cause literal chemical natural disasters by lobby work and shitty investment decisions and what happens?.. correct… In china they be ded…
Out of my perspective, one system punishes overlords and the other doesn’t. I know what you mean regarding the prohibition on critics of the system / important people / journalism / science … but if we strictly compare the US with China in terms of billionaire punishment, China wins…
And regarding the massive steps the USA takes towards an autocracy, I would say the other aspects of the argument won’t hold up much longer.
It seems like we need to go through this shit to finally get our star trek future.