The reason we lose freedom (in America) isn't because we are too capitalist, or too socialist...the reason we lose freedom is because people (the politicians we elect) take it away from us. And, for the most part, we gladly give it up for the promise of security or safety. Military men and women fought and died to protect these very freedoms (Habeus Corpus, the right to not be spied on by your government, the right to not have our government put assassinations on our own citizens, the right to not be strip searched by a private corporation [airlines], etc etc etc).
That being said, our politicians (both Republican and Democrat) are corporate whores who enact laws and policies that benefit these corporations, at the expense of the average citizen/family. It's always been us versus them (working class versus the corporate overlords), however the government has divided us, person versus person. We fight amongst ourselves about social issues (gay marriage, abortion, healthcare, guns, etc) while the ruling class keeps benefiting their own personal fiscal agenda. The politicians basically let the energy companies write the energy regulations. And they let the wall street bankers write the financial regulations.
Divide and conquer, it's the best tactic for ruling people, and not even having them realize that you're going against their interests. They're too busy fighting each other to realize who the real enemy is.
