Who will you vote for?

Tomorrow is Super Tuesday, which means that many of you will be voting. Who will you vote for?

The question I'm posing will, for US Americans, bring to mind the faces of a bunch of rich people who are running to be president of the United States. Many people all have their minds pretty much made up about their candidate, and while an alarming number of people continue vote for Donald Trump, I think it's pretty likely that if you're reading this blog, you're not one of them.

But the question I'm posing is not about any of the people in this image 

(Many of whom are already out of the race)

The question I'm posing is about everybody else.

  

For the first time in my life, I'm living outside of the United States in an election year. That's giving me a different perspective on the whole thing.

The United States is the most powerful nation on the planet. It has the biggest military ever. Our country has a lot of influence, and the person leading it wields more power than almost anyone. Power is a tool, and can be used for various ends. Living outside the US for the past year has pushed me to reflect on how much impact the choice that the American people will make in November will affect the billions of people who cannot vote in our election.

There's more than 7 billion people. You get one vote. You can use that vote for any one of those 7 billion. You can use that vote for your college-age niece who is watching nervously as her debt grows every semester. You can use that vote for you aging parent who is about to retire and start living off their pension and social security checks. You can use that vote for the people protesting in the streets for Black Lives Matter.

But you can't vote for everybody.

Because interests are complicated. You can use your vote to support unions, and in the process support coal mining and the harm it does to the environment. You can use that vote to support clean energy sources, and in the process destabilize a coal miner's job.

You can use your one vote for domestic interests, and ignore the complexities of the only human planet. You can use your vote to focus just on international politics, and ignore the struggles of your fellow  countrymen and countrywomen.

You can use your vote for your state, your town, your neighborhood. Or you can use your vote for what you think is best for the country overall even if it goes against the best interests of your next door neighbor.

This one vote you get isn't simple to use.

This one vote you get isn't something to waste.

Forget the candidates.

Forget the political noise.

Forget about who you think should win your vote.

Ask yourself the question: In 2016, who will you vote for?*

*And then do something for them besides just voting.