The difference you are ignoring here is voluntary and/or unenforced restriction of freedom (which is a contradiction in terms — you are free to change your conditions) vs. imposed and enforced restrictions.

Kind of important.

And the obvious thing you are ignoring is that prisons just dont do this:

free healthcare, basic necessities available for everyone, guaranteed roof over your head, and even full employment

Prisons are places where rape, neglect, and violence are the norm. Being pithy reduces whatever point you had into dust.

Perhaps in United States. Our European prisons are much more comfortable.

Additionally, in the USSR we perhaps had less rape and violence in peacetime (our prison guards were professional and order was enforced), but oh boy, we knew a thing or two about neglect.

The Gulag Archipelago paints a very different picture, torture was common according to that text.

Serves them right for not giving up every single ounce of grain they produced to the government.

Yes, that’s right; it is about the Stalin era, though. My personal experience with the USSR was limited to the end of 1980s, where things were much softer compared to those horrors.

> And the obvious thing you are ignoring is that prisons just dont do this: > free healthcare, basic necessities available for everyone, guaranteed roof over your head, and even full employment

Yes they do in all western societies apart from US

I don’t know, I pay $500/month for my medical insurance out of pocket. Last time I checked, unemployment was also rampant. Basic necessities are quite expensive. Education is nearly free compared to everything else, that one is true (costs of living quite compensate for that, though).

Americans are quite welcome in Europe, by the way. For some reason, however, the majority of people prefers to move in other direction.