When I hear the word 'totalitarian' or 'dictatorship' I think of Soviet Russia or Nazi Germany. If contemporary China is a dictatorship, then apparently life under a dictatorship isn't as bad as I was raised to believe and I need to review my evaluations of those regimes. I used to live in San Francisco and now live in Beijing - my ability to live my life as I see fit has been relatively unchanged.
If you were an ethnic German, life in Germany in the 1930s was pretty good too. Bierkellers, girls in dirndl dresses, finally after the setbacks of WW1 the German people were back on their feet, etc etc.
If you're an ethnic Han, or a Westerner, life in China could be pretty good too.
