Is the glass half full or half empty?

Pat Chisolm, writing in the Christian Science Monitor, makes the case that "Big Government" is here to stay. He says that forces favoring wealth redistibution are ascendent. He cites the recent battle of Social Security reform as well as the bloated Federal budget as evidence of the big spending trend which he says will continue as more people become beneficiaries of Federal largesse. He concludes with this explanation of the socio/political dynamic involved:

The left has a powerful institutional force on its side: "public choice" economics. Our system of government is highly responsive to vocal groups that lobby for subsidies, government programs, and other special favors. Since the costs are spread out among all taxpayers while the benefits are concentrated among smaller segments of the population (such as retirees, in the case of Social Security and Medicare), the taxpayers have much less of an incentive to lobby against the measure while the beneficiaries have a huge incentive to lobby for it. Whenever those subsidies are threatened, the lobbies launch their barrages of politically effective complaints.

Forces favoring the left are virtually locked in. Even with Republicans in control, big government is destined to get a lot bigger.

This sounds like the situation in France today where nearly everyone receives a Federal subsidy. Assuming the author is correct and the United States moves toward a more socialist system how will American society be affected? A studied look at Europe and Canada could forecast some answers but can't predict with certainty. Current events often have a way of overtaking history. Also, social programs need money, which we all know doesn't grow on trees.