Dictatorships are not unknown to the west. We know though, that it is more productive and fulfilling to live in a free democratic society. True, people in dictatorships can claim even a high level of satisfaction and happiness, but it's mostly a case of ignorance being a bliss. You are dismissing the power of oppression in altering minds. We have that in the west too, the media, yet we believe its marginally better due to pluralism