At first I took your statement, as I do many of my own, as typical FR hyperbole.
I think you are quite correct, hyperbole aside. What began as a noble exercise in a democratic republic has insidiously changed into a distinctly feudal system over the last 231 years .
Well, yes, think about it. Was reading a pundit recently who said the same thing - not my original thought. He said that if we were trending toward socialism (as some conservatives accuse the Dems of doing), then with Dems in charge there would be a redistribution of wealth from the top, i.e. from government. But there’s not - there’s a concentration of wealth at the top, regardless of which party is in power. And the lords simply dole it out to their favorites, not for the “common good” as would be expected in a socialist system. Of course, it almost goes without saying that were we a truly capitalist system, government’s role would be very tiny.