This isn't an "American" thing more so than it is a corporate thing. It's Time Warner, Verizon, and AT&T trying to merge to control the internet and have you pay for their monopoly.
Ajit Pai, the FCC commissioner that used to be a Verizon lawyer, has basically put the internet up for auction so that the ISPs can make fast lanes for the few, slow lanes for the many. He's cut subsidies to the poor, and signaled how the rich want more.
Net Neutrality is basically having internet service being used as a utility. What most companies want to do is prioritize their own shitty services while charging you for things like checking out Patreon. This also would set the internet into a Dark Age by locking up information to whatever they prioritize. Google, Facebook, and Amazon included.
Basically, once Net Neutrality goes, you have companies looking for profit to fuck you over.
Welcome to the Digital Feudal Age with your corporate overlords.