vadimivich
Well-known member
I put this on Facebook earlier, but figured I'd copy it here. I'm sure BSF will say I'm a globalist and BKF will say I don't know how the "real" world works ... but I thought it's worth pondering.
Something that I have learned to fully appreciate while living through 2 presidential elections abroad is what a tremendous responsibility the American electorate has - not just for the United States, but for the entire world. The most powerful person in the world is chosen by less than 130 million of the 8 billion residents on earth, and the rest have to simply watch from a distance and live with the consequences of our choice. I opened this weeks copy of Profil (kind of like the Austrian version of Time magazine), titled "Why we need America - the US must remain the leading power of the free world" and got a full throated pep talk I felt directed right at me - I'm not sure how many others with a vote in the US election are reading Profil in German, but it can't be that many.
(side note to Austria: WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR JUSTIN BIEBER, TAKE YOUR COMPLAINS TO CANADA ON THAT ONE)
I cast my ballot this morning. Not just because I am one of the people given the responsibility to elect the leaders of my country, but also because I am one of the people given the responsibility to elect the leaders of the entire free world. That's a heavy responsibility, and one that is so easily forgotten inside the United States. The question at the end of that opening paragraph leaves another one unsaid "Do you not want it anymore ... and if not, then who?". The few of us lucky enough to be able to vote today would do well to ponder that.
Something that I have learned to fully appreciate while living through 2 presidential elections abroad is what a tremendous responsibility the American electorate has - not just for the United States, but for the entire world. The most powerful person in the world is chosen by less than 130 million of the 8 billion residents on earth, and the rest have to simply watch from a distance and live with the consequences of our choice. I opened this weeks copy of Profil (kind of like the Austrian version of Time magazine), titled "Why we need America - the US must remain the leading power of the free world" and got a full throated pep talk I felt directed right at me - I'm not sure how many others with a vote in the US election are reading Profil in German, but it can't be that many.
"Hey, do you still know who you are? You are around 44% of the private financial assets in the world, you are the exporter of $1.5T in goods per year, you are Google and Facebook and Apple, you are Batman v. Spiderman v. Star Wars v. Kim Kardashian, you are Jeff Koons, Beyonce and Justin Bieber, you are Bob Dylan and 6 more Nobel Prize winners this year alone! You are 8,848 tanks and 2,308 military aircraft. No you are not just anyone, you are the United States of America. You are - for the record - the Superpower!"
"Not only Europe has to rely on you to not forget what that means. At the moment it seems you have doubts about the role you are spending all your time on: the leader of the free world. Do you not want it anymore?"
(side note to Austria: WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR JUSTIN BIEBER, TAKE YOUR COMPLAINS TO CANADA ON THAT ONE)
I cast my ballot this morning. Not just because I am one of the people given the responsibility to elect the leaders of my country, but also because I am one of the people given the responsibility to elect the leaders of the entire free world. That's a heavy responsibility, and one that is so easily forgotten inside the United States. The question at the end of that opening paragraph leaves another one unsaid "Do you not want it anymore ... and if not, then who?". The few of us lucky enough to be able to vote today would do well to ponder that.