I think you are (sadly) correct...
“…Freedom, to most, it is an idea. An abstract thought that pertains to control. That’s not Freedom, that’s independence. 
Freedom is riding wild over untamed land with no notion any moment exists beyond one you are living…”
1883

JesseJames

I lived majority of my life there, I know the difference. 

There's no such thing as a "free country", it's just a scale. 

even something as simple as having more discussion and awareness, that's a massive improvement over what china has.

So I totally disagree perfect dictatorship has an appearance of democracy

kingzing131

With democratic system, even a false one, at least you'd have discussion and able to grasp some basic concepts.

Yes, you can discuss about politics, but this doesn’t mean you are living in a free country. That’s an illusion.

BooksAndArticles

The perfect dictatorship would have the appearance of a democracy

Nadia

> With democratic system, even a false one, at least you'd have discussion and able to grasp some basic concepts.

Yes, you can discuss about politics, but this doesn’t mean you are living in a free country. That’s an illusion.