The term “death of a thousand cuts” is frequently misused. It was a Chinese method of execution, and it actually did not involve many little cuts, as commentators seem to assume. Actually, “death of a thousand cuts” was just an expression, an exaggeration.
The real method was, if anything, more horrible, The victim was drugged with opium to keep him from feeling the full extent of pain, and to keep him from passing out, so that he would be (supposedly) conscious of his punishment. He was then carefully dissected by the executioners, first by removing arms and legs. There are actually photographs of the process, and what is really horrible, is that the victim is smiling!
So we do not loose our freedoms in this way, except for those people who suffer loss of rights while “drugged” with ideology, and still smiling.
Thank you for the history lesson, which I found very interesting.
I think, though, that the phrase has become one that is accepted in American society, even if it is not historically accurate.