"In an age that emphasizes individual freedoms, institutions are often portrayed merely as constraints on this freedom."

This statement intrigued me because of the overwhelming influence on the country of big business. If anything, big business contracts our freedoms, constricting our choices in music, television, etc., and influencing Congress to vote certain ways on issues. So far, this agrees with Brown's statement, except Americans themselves are the ones perpetrating big business, trying to get jobs there, buying the products, etc. We have "freedom," yes, freedom to choose between NBC and ABC.