Evidently you're not familiar with most of the First World?

You have less freedom than most of us, not more. The NDAA wouldn't fly in Canada, or Scandinavia, or ...

> Scandinavia

Maybe better in some respects, but Sweden seems pretty corrupt in light of the Pirate Bay trial and Assange prosecution.

> pretty corrupt

Based on those two examples?

According to this: http://cpi.transparency.org/cpi2012/results/

...4 nordic countries place in the top 7. Sweden is nr 4. The US is nr 19.

My opinion of Sweden's government has worsened considerably thanks to those extremely blatant examples of politically-motivated injustice. A high ranking shouldn't be an excuse to sweep real problems away.

For more on the Pirate Bay trial, see Falkvinge's post here:

http://falkvinge.net/2013/01/06/banana-republic-justice-behi...

HN discussion: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=5016277

Sweden's two most famous failures were both kowtows to the US, so aren't much relevant in a comparison against US corruption.

I'm pretty sure the parent was being sarcastic. Even vague knowledge of Europe makes that statement obviously silly.

I've met a number of Americans who deeply believe that they are the free-est people on earth and that literally all of us who live outside the US are by definition constantly battling with abusive governments against which we have no recourse.

It's absurd but not uncommon, sadly.

Sadly, most people who are arrested or punished because they exercised their rights have no recourse in this country. A legal battle is pricey, risky, and the damage is often done long before anyone sees a courtroom.

This "we're the best because we're the best!" attitude is harmful and resting on laurels "as an American" is why we're not the best, leading to a continued erosion of freedom, ill-action, and our deserved opinion in the eyes of the rest of the world.

I'm sorry, but it just reveals how deluded you are.

While I agree it is great that he did not have to face any further repercussions, it actually did go to trial and he was in fact found guilty by the lower court.