Socialism and Imperialism are the same thing. In the latter, you take over countries and impose your will. The Romans mostly left people alone; the British wanted to make them over to Christianity. In the former, you in effect “invade” your own nation, seeking accomodations by force.
The difference is this: in Socialism, you commoditize human beings. They must do what you as the owner of the State say. In Imperialism, people are free to do what they want, provided only that they pay your taxes and don’t object publicly to your rule. There is no overweaning concern with the views of individuals, as such, like there is in Socialism.
The logic of Socialism is the logic of the worst type of Capitalism, in which you just want people to be drones. The Chinese, currently, use actual slaves, almost certainly. You just condemn people as “enemies of the State”, then put them in a prison, where they now work for free. There is no Bill of Rights, or other legal document, which would slow in the slightest anyone who wanted to do that. You could even simply arrest people to increase your head count, then count on them as slaves, being–as they would be–custodians of the State.