An idea that just occurred to me while I was trying to think of a reply. I respect your opinion by the way.

I'm in myanmar at the moment, and when the coup happened, and anyone could be shot anytime, everyone instantly lost their purposes. Why keep building a society that's been taken from them? And they stopped working in protest and the economy here is completely wrecked and it's most likely a failed state.

In china the people don't see other options so they live in (a very stable) oppression more or less productively, but for places that are brutalist police states, it kind of kills people's souls, makes you prepared to die, fucks up your threat assessment on almost everything you used to worry about, makes you uninspired. There's something about democracies, even silly ones, that improve per capita innovation. And I think it's the belief that you can build something for yourself to improve your society.

So I grew up in a nice democracy, and a lot of black people grew up in a shitty police state, and we were both in the same country.

I have no idea if this is just coincidence but oppression is something tangible, I think. I've never been oppressed properly (and hopefully will never be) so I can't think about it holistically & my white guilt further muddies the waters.