Election season has come. Here’s what you need to do to stop Trump from winning | Robert Reich

America is about to start a terrifyingly high-stakes ride. These are some ways to help save American democracy

The week after Labor Day weekend usually signals the start of a return to serious business - summer vacations over and kids back to school, fiscal years ending and new ones beginning, cleaning up and battening down for winter.

This particular week after Labor Day also marks the start of a terrifyingly high-stakes ride for America - five months until the beginning of the primaries, eight until Donald Trump's trial for seeking to overturn the 2020 election, 10 until the Republican convention in which Trump is almost certain to be nominated, 14 until the presidential election of 2024.

Do everything within your power to ensure that Donald Trump is not re-elected president. For some of us, this will mean taking time out of our normal lives to become more directly politically involved - up to and including getting out the votes in critical swing states.

Do not succumb to the tempting anesthesia of complacency or cynicism. The stakes are too high. Even if you cannot take much time out of your normal life for direct politics, you will need to organize, mobilize and energize your friends, colleagues and neighbors.

Counter lies with truth. When you hear someone repeating a Trump Republican lie, correct it. This will require that you prepare yourself with facts, logic, analysis and sources.

Do not tolerate bigotry and hate. Call it out. Stand up to it. Denounce it. Demand that others denounce it, too.

Do not resort to violence, name-calling, bullying or any of the other tactics that Trump followers may be using.

Be compassionate toward hardcore followers of Trump, but be firm in your opposition. Understand why someone may decide to support Trump, but don't waste your time and energy trying to convert them. Use your time and energy on those who still have open minds.

Don't waste your time and energy commiserating with people who already agree with you. Don't gripe, whine, wring your hands and kvetch with other progressives about how awful Trump and his Republican enablers are. Don't snivel over or criticize Biden and the Democrats for failing to communicate more effectively. None of this will get you anything except an upset stomach or worse.

Demonstrate, but don't mistake demonstrating for political action. You may find it gratifying to stand on a corner in Berkeley with a sign asking drivers to honk if you hate fascism" and elicit lots of honks, but that's as politically effectual as taking a warm shower. Organize people who don't normally vote to vote for Biden. Mobilize get-out-the-vote efforts in your community. Get young people involved.

Don't get deflected by the latest sensationalist post or story by or about Trump. Don't let the media's short-term attention span divert your eyes from the prize - the survival of American democracy during one of the greatest stress tests it has had to endure, organized by one of the worst demagogues in American history.

Robert Reich, a former US secretary of labor, is a professor of public policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and the author of Saving Capitalism: For the Many, Not the Few and The Common Good. His newest book, The System: Who Rigged It, How We Fix It, is out now. He is a Guardian US columnist. His newsletter is at robertreich.substack.com