>Presumably you would assert that the USA is not a free country

I'd agree with that. Its free-er than many of the countries we like to poke fun at, but if you want to be recognized as an indivudual before you're 18th birthday, drink before you've been an adult for three years, try a little cannabis, marry the a member of your sex, or have the popular vote in your presidential elections actually mean something, you'll need to keep looking.