I've been trying to explain to friends (sympathetic friends outside of the USA) how upsetting it has been for me......how upsetting it was to be disciplined for a joke by a manager at Starbucks....
The lesson I draw from this is the following: I cannot go into a public place in this country and simply make a spontaneous joke.
Instead, I must engage in self-censorship and ask myself whether someone might be offended.
In other words, there is no freedom of expression in this country. And I shall now be forced to present one persona in public, another in private.
In other words the atmosphere (created by citizens---citizens following/interpreting the orders of their corporate masters but still citizens, not soldiers or police) is totalitarian. Reminiscent of "communism". (For which, see, e.g., Milan Kundera's classic novel "The Joke"......)
A good reason to leave.....forever......
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