Is this a bug or a feature?

From an interview with the U.S. President on 60 Minutes Sunday night (which we did not watch) in which he said:
in a lot of these places, the one organizing principle has been Islam. The one part of society that hasn't been controlled completely by the government.
What jumps out at me is "the one part of society that hasn't been controlled completely by the government." Whatever your religion or lack thereof, who would want to live where the government controls every aspect of society?

Incidentally we have not watched 60 Minutes in over 20 years. Have we missed anything?