Is the US headed towards a socialist government?

[kandrathe]

Definitely not.

Granted, equal rights for all races and for women have been a huge positive step. What I'm talking about is the lifting up of all people without dragging down others.

You know of a place where everyone has these things without the government, or as you so colorfully put it, "the bayonet of government force"? I don't. Everywhere that there is social security, even broadly speaking, there is a government involved. Everywhere there is widespread education even for the poorest, there is a government involved. Everywhere that people can be assured of some measure of health care, or of a minimum standard of living, there is a government involved. Perhaps you might believe that these things are possible without governments, and perhaps you are right. But this is not our experience so far, unless you have some examples to the contrary.

Just because government domination of society is ubiquitous on this planet does not mean it is correct. I would offer that the US was an experiment heading toward that purpose of proving that prosperity was not a function of a benevolent (or malevolent) ruler that has eventually gradually degenerated back into the despotic model they were more familiar with. I think the original founders of America were very intellectual, scholarly and had the historically unique case of being able to try to build a better Republic. Most of the citizens and statesman since that time have not upheld that original vision. So, that original idea that American labor should not be taxed to be used at the whim of an uncaring ruler to run his empire has been long lost. Now the empire is run from Washington DC. We citizens are again taxed to pad the massive bonus checks of the same greedy Wall Street tycoons who helped to destroy our economy, and our rulers in Congress get massive boons which propel them into the American aristocracy. The main difference from the situation in 1776 is that the aristocratic lords who pull our strings are not an ocean away.

I think liberty is an emergent property. Nature is implacable, and our collective ability to live lives of meaningful choice depends on our ability to overcome those inherent obstacles in a way that helps everyone spend their time on this planet how they choose. Governments, as one of our few effective tools for collective action, give us the ability to make that happen. They also give us the power to do the opposite, and against that, we have to be vigilant. However, as I see it, without the intervention of government, we'd all be a lot less free, not more.

I would agree. Government is necessary to protect individual and collective liberty, but it seems that we have developed a "ruling class" of politicians who believe government is the instrument of their will (and control). Liberty has become a 2nd class concern, trumped by anything deemed to be for the common good.