There are many ways to measure success. The right to have children is one; free access to travel is another; and so is speaking your mind. The country and its people have many good features, but success in China is qualitatively very different than in the U.S. Has the economically successful Jack Ma been heard from recently?

Also, "not living in extreme poverty" is laudable. But it's not the same thing as success. Success is obviously subjective, but it'll be impossible to have a decent debate until you define your measure of success. And for most Americans, if you don't include things like free travel, free speech and free assembly, the discussion is not worth having.