Well, yes, they have to play catch up now because we were/are ahead of them.
The question is whether or not they will always be playing catch up, and whether or not that's directly related to the personal freedom of their citizens.
Yes, my point is that we still don't know, so it's early to use them as evidence one way or the other. And with a lack of evidence, Chesterton's Fence implies we shouldn't touch it.
