It's not just the US, it's virtually every nation-state government, everywhere. I am reminded of what Noam Chomsky argued in Hegemony or Survival: America's Quest for Global Dominance: "Those who want to face their responsibilities with a genuine commitment to democracy and freedom—even to decent survival—should recognise the barriers that stand in the way. In violent states these are not concealed. In more democratic societies barriers are more subtle. While methods differ sharply from more brutal to more free societies, the goals are in many ways similar: to ensure the ‘great beast,’ as Alexander Hamilton called the people, does not stray from its proper confines. Controlling the general population has always been a dominant concern of power and privilege…Problems of domestic control become particularly severe when the governing authorities carry out policies that are opposed by the general population. In those cases, the political leadership may…manufacture consent for its murderous policies."