NAILS

30 | NAILS MAGAZINE | DECEMBER 2016{ }By the time this issue is in your hands, we will have justelected a new president, many congressmen andcongresswomen, and decided the fate of countlesspropositions. You can imagine as I write this, many weeks earlier, thelevel of suspense that is still in the air. I’m not going to go anywherenear political commentary or stating my own opinion, because it’sirrelevant to what is most important: the promise of voting.The act of voting, distilled down to its earliest definition, is a vow.It’s a wish for the right thing to happen. Some people use their preciousvote on a candidate they don’t really like, just to strike against thecandidate they like even less. While I understand the logic, I fear theconsequences. Should our votes be wielded as weapons, defending usfrom some unimaginable fate?In some societies, people don’t have the luxury of agonizingover this question. They are busy dodging trouble from a militantgovernment, raising children, and making enough money to put foodon the table. If they had an opportunity to vote for a lesser evil, theyprobably would do so; and who could say that was wrong? As it is,many societies don’t even have the option to vote.Your ballot will be cast along with many, many others and you willnever in your life know whether your single vote was the tipping pointtoward the greater good. Conversely, you will never know whetheryour missing vote ever tipped the scales towards an unfortunateoutcome. Either way, your vote matters. So much of our lives arespent dealing with things that are sheer luck or out of our control.Our vote is one of the few tools we have with which to take a stand.As one commenter on a post about voting in freakonomics.com putit, “Sure, my vote is a pretty small signal on its own — but it’s mineand I don’t want to rely on anyone else to send it.”Voting can also be fun. It’s fun to study the issues, to watch thedebates, to use your brain and try to determine which candidatebest aligns with your own values. Voting is smart; it is the tool ofthoughtful, caring people silently shouting that their vow matters.Here at NAILS we have our own small world of choice, andthough we’re serious about our contests we also try to make themfun. From Readers’ Choice Awards (see who won on p. 104) to ourCover Tech Contest, and on to our fast-growing NAILS Next Top NailArtist Competition, we take every opportunity to heed the will of thereader. You’re the one out there using the products, trying the nailart designs, and understanding the incredible difficulty of masteringa perfect set of nails. If anyone has the right to vote, it’s you.on my mindYour Vote COUNTS[email protected]