This is a horrible attitude to have. You're telling them that rather than push their country to be the best it can be, they should accept it for what it is and move if they don't like it? That's not what America is about my friend.
China, due to the nature of the country, has options at it's disposal that the US does not. Norway, the socialist paradise (where I live) , also does not have high speed rail BTW.
Yet "socialist" leaning countries like Spain, Germany, France, and Sweden do have high speed rail.
Sure, China's cheaper labor makes it easier for them to build out HSR quickly and affordably, but your implication that you need to be an authoritarian country for HSR to be feasible isn't accurate.
The lack of HSR in the US is due to several reasons. High construction costs, the fact that many cities are very spread out and cheaply served by domestic flights, and my earlier comment about NIMBYs blocking construction because they don't want it running through their farms.
