Ah, yes. We're all familiar with how strongly the USSR/Russia adheres to the principles and practice of personal freedoms . . .
You'd be surprised! Strangely enough, I felt more free there. Almost any rule can be "bent" if you know how and is negotiable if you know who to negotiate with. Here the gov't is quite paternalistic I must say. You have plenty of "significant freedoms" like freedom of speach etc. But once you come down to the lower level of everyday life, almost everything is strictly regulated one way or the other. To some foreigners, the culture shock comes in other forms when they come here. I was shocked by how paternalisticly governed people were. Starting with the edited-for-content TV and on from there...
So let me get this straight. You feel less restricted in Russia because almost any rule can be "bent"? Is that your concept of a civilized society, and how to operate in it? If so, then understand that our system is here to protect the average person from people precisely like you, who don't know the value of personal responsibilty.