Is the US headed towards a socialist government?

[Taem]

As for socialism and democracy, perhaps we can learn from Alexis De Tocqueville where he says, "Democracy attaches all possible value to each man; socialism makes each man a mere agent, a mere number. Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word: equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint."

As for socialism and capitalism, the rub for capitalists is the free use of the fruits of their labors. Rather, socialists believe that the success of capital (investment appreciation or earnings) warrants legal banditry in the form of laws designed to separate people from their wealth by force of government. Socialism ends tragically when those with the means are either unable or unwilling to pay. The American people are still duped by their textbooks into believing that FDR and the New Deal was what delivered the USA from the great depression. The great depression, WWI and WWII is what gave the US federal government the impetus and the cause by which to legally take whatever they wanted. Since the end of WWII, they have never given up an ounce of power or returned the nation back to the people. The US spends over a trillion dollars a year (of borrowed money) to maintain an empire built during the past 80 years, and like all empires before us we too will succumb.

I'm reminded of the legacy that was Rome; first they had a Senate that was essentially a Republic (for the people, by the people), then decided having a bunch of leaders didn't work well when dealing with their foreign neighbors so elected to have a head spokesman and became an Autocracy. Over time, the government took on many roles for the people until the Roman Empire became what many consider a socialist nation. Quote taken from Wikipedia.org:

Bruce Bartlett traces the beginning of debasement to the reign of Nero. By the third century the monetary economy had collapsed. Bartlett sees the end result as a form of state socialism. Monetary taxation was replaced with direct requisitioning, for example taking food and cattle from farmers. Individuals were forced to work at their given place of employment and remain in the same occupation. Farmers became tied to the land, as were their children, and similar demands were made on all other workers, producers, and artisans as well. Workers were organized into guilds and businesses into corporations called collegia. Both became de facto organs of the state, controlling and directing their members to work and produce for the state. In the countryside people attached themselves to the estates of the wealthy in order to gain some protection from state officials and tax collectors. These estates, the beginning of feudalism, operated as much as possible as closed systems, providing for all their own needs and not engaging in trade at all.

Now I'm not saying a Socialist society can't work, because when I look at functioning countries centered around such socialist doctrine in today’s day and age, I see a society that fits well together. However, after having viewed the comments made by kandrathe in the Adolf Hitler Cambell thread or more importantly, the views expressed by others non-native to the US, and after having read the comments from Shadow and others in this thread, I now see how much I do appreciate the liberties bestowed upon us here in the US, and sadly how much I took them for granted. I don't think people from other cultures can truly understand or respect our ways of life, and I'm just starting to accept that for what it is.