Cream cheese is Satan’s ass-spackle.
That is the case - the tubs of cream cheese spread are indeed cream cheese modified to be more spreadable. The notion, however, that that means there is no real cream cheese in the US is simply laughable. Someone just isn’t looking hard enough.
I think the question, at least as I read it, is more whether one regards cream cheese as “real cheese” in general. I am on the “pro-cheese” side. Just because it’s creamy and not aged doesn’t mean it’s not cheese or some kind of processed cheese-like product.
Here is a recipe for cream cheese. I’ve made it before. The steps required to make it are just like any other pressed and aged cheese except you stop before the pressing and aging part.