But have yall lived in North Korea or Russia. Or is this affinity for "America as the Best" spring from our inherit patriotism rather than lived experiences in other nations outside the West?
I've lived in China (7 years), Muslim SE Asia (9 years), and Taiwan (current), so I can speak to those.
Honestly, different countries have different freedoms in different ways. At one time, the US was definitely freer than the others by any metric--especially China, obviously. But nowadays, I would say it's more about what freedoms you want.
Religious freedom wise, US is definitely the winner--although Taiwan would be not far behind.
Most of these countries have freedoms in niche areas that might surprise you that we don't actually enjoy in the US. E.g., the ability to walk into a convenience store and buy contact lenses without a prescription. (Every country I've lived in besides the US has this.) And a few years ago in the US, we were forced to buy health insurance or pay a fine. That was pretty draconian, by some country's metrics.
We do have the freedom to elect our own leaders, it's true. But a) So do Indonesia, Taiwan, and a lot of other countries; and b) that's mostly fake anyway, because I doubt any of us seriously wanted as our first pick the choice of Kamala or Trump.
China is surprisingly "free" in terms of taxation and economic freedoms for business owners, I've been told. Much freer than the US. Used to be at least, when I lived there. Not sure if that's the case anymore.
Taiwan has very loose zoning laws, so you can set up and run a shop out of your home, which results in a really cool boutique culture where people can pursue their hobbies at little cost, which is cool
As for how, "great" a country is, I think not having gay marriage, not having to own an automobile, not having your country fund and push the LGBTQ+ agenda in its embassies around the world, having cheap healthcare you can pay out of pocket, etc. are all pretty great, but to each his/her own.
Again, this is not speaking to countries like North Korea or Russia, or Afghanistan, which have much more serious problems than others I've mentioned. (China is and was... complicated, for reasons I can get into some other time.)