If your concern is quality of life, then you should be glad to know that all socialist countries, including of course the USSR and China, have radically improved the living standards for their massive citizenries in every metric that matters.

What use is being supposedly free to criticize the U.S. gov't when 1) every living standard is worse, 2) our education and media feed us so much lies we blame our woes on everybody BUT the gov't, or for the wrong reasons, 3) you secretly can't because if you effectively do so you will be blackbagged and disappeared or assassinated?

Your singular Hong Kong kid is not a representative of an entire country or even Hong Kong. Why was it sensitive? Because he feared CPC would come and turn him into meatloaf...or because he feared his parents would? In MY personal, anecdotal experience, fascist parents/grandparents are the greatest source of anticommunist fear.