I first voted in the election of 1960. I voted for Senator John F. Kennedy. I have voted in every election since then. I usually vote for Democrats but I have voted for some Republicans.

This is the most important election of my lifetime. Why? Because the stakes are so high. Trump is not a conservative. He is a wild-eyed radical surrounded by rightwing zealots and white supremacists.

He would have the opportunity to appoint justices to the US Supreme Court, locking in a hard-right Court for the next generation. He says he will eliminate the civil service and replace career personnel with Trump loyalists. He wants to destroy the “administrative state,” that is, the authority of the federal government. He will cut Social Security and Medicare. He will destroy the Environmental Progection Agency. He will round up 11-15 million immigrants, both legal and immigrants, place them in detention camps, and expel them. He would hand over public health agencies to Robert F. Kennedy, who opposes vaccines.

Many years ago, I read a British political philosopher named Walter Bagehot on the subject of democracy. I recall him writing that the stability of a democratic society depends on, among other things, the low stakes of elections. It matters, but not too much, if your candidate wins. If he or she loses, there’s always next time. There will always be another election. Both candidates agree on basic principles, and neither threatens to blow up the system.

Trump threatens to blow up the system. He calls the other party “enemies,” and repeatedly says he will have them jailed or shot. The threats are threats to democracy.

So what am I doing?

I voted on October 26, the first day of early voting in New York State.

I no longer overdose on news. I am not watching it on TV because there is no news, just speculation. Instead, in my household, we are mostly watching reruns of “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.”

I no longer read polls. They are a waste of time. We will know soon enough how the elections turn out. Polls cause agita.

I am reaching out to everyone I know in battleground states to urge them to vote.

I have contributed to many candidates: not only Harris and Walz, but Colin Allred in Texas, Jon Tester in Montana, Debbie Mucarsel-Powell in Florida, Sherrod Brown in Ohio, Lucas Kunce in Missouri, Angela Alsobrooks in Maryland, Tammy Baldwin in Michigan, and many more.

If I were younger, I would be ringing doorbells in a battleground state, as my son and grandson are.

Please vote, if you haven’t done so already. Call everyone you know and urge them to vote. This is not an ordinary election. Our future is on the line. This time it matters.