[WS:] I think we are in agreement and quibble only over semantics. The social control thing is really the crux of the matter here.
Having said, however, making such an argument in the neo-liberal US of A is double edged-sword. It often does not lead to a greater empowerment of individuals but to cuts in social safety nets in the name of "freedom" as it has been the case of mental health care.
I would be 100% behind arguments for less social control in a socialist society that provides adequate services to anyone who needs them, but not in the US. Ditto for school "reform" and any other "reform" the corporate media talk about. My basic instinct is to distrust anything unless it is vehemently denied by the US officialdom or alternatively it puts the US neoliberal system in a negative light.
-- Wojtek
"An anarchist is a neoliberal without money."