Clearly you've got a thick head, it's going to take some doing to get through it. Make sure you read this whole post before you dismiss it as me flaming you.
First I'd like you to tell me exactly where it was stated that Sonic hated urbanism, society, government, and was ultra liberal, and I'll eat my socks. I don't think Sonic Team even knows the meaning of those words. All he did was live with a bunch of animals, and all he hated was Robotnik. Just because he's in a different place doesn't mean crap. Your logic is severely flawed, and you're basing your argument on false evidence.
Sonic certainly isn't "conforming" to anything in SA, he's only there for the complete hell of it and happened to get thrown into an adventure while vacationing or whatever it was he was doing there. After all, no one really lives in Station Square to the best of my knowledge, I've always thought of it as some sort of tourist trap.
If you "backtrack in the linear level design" you just end up slowing down, thus you create your own problem. There's no reason to backtrack anyway, considering you don't need to hunt for items or anything...
But, I'll agree with you on the unneeded characters. I understand they threw them in for variety, but they just weren't all that fun. The game could very well have been done with just Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles.
Everything else you said just sounds like so much bull. I respect opinions, but not when people can't back them up properly.