The recent election highlighted the lack of understanding on the part of many Americans of the term socialism. An example of this is Thomas Tuberville, winner of the Senate seat from Alabama, who stated that his father had fought in World War II to defeat socialism. If so, we must have lost that war, because socialism was alive and well when the war was over. In fact, the West teamed up with the USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) to defeat the Nazis in Germany, the Fascists in Italy and Imperial Japan. Similarly, President Trump and many Republicans like to refer to President-elect Biden and Democrats as socialists. The fact is, socialism is defined as a system where the means of production are owned collectively (as opposed to privately) - nothing more and nothing less. Americans often conflate socialism with authoritarianism because socialist regimes, mainly but not exclusively the Russians and Chinese, have also been authoritarian. The Chinese Communists have thus far avoided the fate of the USSR by allowing some degree of private enterprise, essentially loosening the government's grip on the means of production just enough to maintain control of the people. And maybe they will be able to pull it off. But this post is not about the Russians or the Chinese. It's about what's going on in this country. The behavior of Trump and his Republican enablers should tell us that there is no norm or law they are not willing to violate to retain power. They are willing to question the validity of the election even in jurisdictions under Republican control. They are willing to exploit possible loopholes in the constitution they have sworn to uphold and protect in order to thwart the will of over 81 million voters. They are even willing to instigate violence against Republicans who dare to speak out against such behavior. This is eerily reminiscent of the behavior of individuals and groups who went on to establish authoritarian regimes in other parts of the world over the past century. It would be a mistake to think this could not happen here. Ironically it was Leon Trotsky, a Russian revolutionary, who said "The end may justify the means as long as there is something that justifies the end" - a striking counterpoint to Barry Goldwater "Extremism in the defence of liberty is no vice". When in 2016 Donald Trump told us who he was we either didn't believe him or discounted the possibility that he could get elected. Now that he has shown us how unscrupulous and unprincipled he can be in the pursuit of his agenda we cannot allow complacency to set in again. We did not in the general election and Georgians must not in the upcoming Senate run-off elections. What Trump stands for is authoritarian rule with private ownership of the means of production - as long as the the owners of the means of production toe his line. This in fact was exactly what the Nazis in Germany and the Fascists in Italy stood for. Democrats are not socialists, but Trump and the Republican Party sure are looking more and more like the authoritarians they obviously admire. If Republicans retain control of the Senate they will stymie Biden while Trump continues to stir the pot on the sidelines preparing for a run in 2024.