> Western Europe is not an authoritarian dystopia by any measure

People are locked up in the Germany and the UK because they criticize the government, its politicians or their policies. I live in Germany.

> Economic growth or lack of thereof is absolutely irrelevant here

It absolutely is. Being right (and more so, being righteous) is expensive. When you cannot afford to put your money where your mouth is, everyone knows that sooner or later you cannot or will not follow through on your words. Europe hast lost ~30% of power vs. the US in just ~12 years.

I mean they've certainly turned their back on classic western values like free speech and expression.