The United States of Amerika got away with being a shitty place for so long because the people who wanted it to be better were cast out from society and/or murdered by the FBI and the CIA.

Fred Hampton, MLK, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, and Eugene V Debs come to mind.

And really, it was all part of the plan. Kick out the people who actually cared, and put up a faux "progressive" opposition in their stead.

You think you are free because the people who say otherwise are silenced.