USA like North Korea?

We see this almost everywhere when someone from abroad says " been there, done that". My wife was often reminded of Brezhnev era by Merkel here in Germany. It helps to go abroad. The grass is always greener on the other side they say but once you get there there is disappointment. Lots of soviet dissidents went to the West to find freedom bit without massive state support for everything as they were used to back home they became impoverished, isolated. After the Berlin Wall  fell the whole East Block went through this. It is like fish in water don' t know about water. Visitors to the states complain of endless TV commercials, malls,etc. Groupthink exists everywhere and exaggerates current trends into comical extremes. At historical turning points this can be quasi civil war or witch hunt like under Mao in the 60s or now in the USA.