>>15
oh my, I've lived nowhere near oppressive as Zovjet Russia so far; so forgive me if it came to sound like it.
The reasons for my choice are manifold and the political situation plays a considerably minor role. You see- this land has in short succession stumbled from one dictatorship into another, and people are now, even decades later, still refusing to come to terms with that; and those in power openly admire the leader figureheads from either regime and are elected for it (much like duce has still a very ...special... sound in some areas of Italy). And though the past years have seen a steady decline in democratic freedoms and the silent removal of checks and balances, we're nowhere near totalitarianism. So the 'more democratic' was of course meant by comparison -- for example, I would not have wanted to move to an Aznar/PP-Spain; all the while democratic it was significantly less democratic than quite a few other european nations.

Secondly, with that out of the way,

>surrounded by people who've given up before the fight even started, just like yourself, and i feel like i'm going to go insane when i meet them in america, where everyone is still playing fair, more or less.

Ah, while I must commend your mettle and your committment, I feel that's somehow unfair towards those who choose to deliberately tend to 'their own business'. Sometimes, a good measure of indifference can save you a lot of gastric ulcer. Sometimes people just don't have the nerve and strength to engage in a 'fight', especially if it seems futile anyways.
Plus, does not the scope of a person naturally grow gradually more limited over time?
"A young man comes out of school and he's interested in everything. He gets a job, and his world narrows. He marries. Job, home, family. And it narrows some more. Finally, he gets older; through with his job, his family gone away, his ultimate concern is his bowel movement every morning..." --Studs Terkel
I think that's very true...