Given the geographic distribution of my online social circles, if you’re reading this, it’s probably even odds you’re doing so from a state that’s voting today in one of the Super Tuesday primaries.

As regular readers (a small, exclusive group) no doubt know, I am a big advocate for the exercise of one’s civic duty; our government gives us a lot (most of it’s even good stuff), so it’s our duty to take an interest in it, and do our part in determining how well it functions, and where it directs it’s resources and efforts.

The bare minimum a citizen can do in that regard is to vote and pay your taxes. Today’s the day to do the less expensive one.

So, if you’re in one of the thirteen or so states with polls open today, take a few minutes of your time to do the absolute least you can do in our participatory democracy. It’ll pay big dividends.

That’s my non-partisan schpiel; for me, it’s most important that you vote at all, to have your voice included. Plus, as I’ve said before: Voting is Sexy.

To put my partisan hat on for a minute, when you vote, I have a couple of suggestions, as you might expect.

I plan on casting my vote in the Virgina Democratic Primary for Bernie Sanders.

Why? Because I like his message with regard to correcting inequality with respect to income and opportunity. This country has a lot to offer, and unfortunately, a lot of the people in it don’t have the opportunity to take advantage of a lot of that, due to circumstances of birth, education, social situation, or whatever. Sanders’ ideas about opening up those opportunities to more of us resonates with me.

I personally managed to do relatively well in my adult life and career thanks to things like public education, a little bit of public assistance, federally subsidized student loans and mortgages, and all kinds of other things I probably can’t think of right now, which helped me get a leg up in terms of knowledge, health, and opportunity. I’ve spent a lot of my adult live giving that stuff back through a career in public service (and a short stint as a public school teacher).

I’d like more people to have access to those kinds of opportunities, and perhaps better ones. Sanders’ plans for spreading the wealth around a bit more, particularly in terms of education and health care look to get us there; even if his admittedly ambitious plans don’t all come to fruition, the attitude and optimism of the ideas will get us closer to the mark; getting people to talk about ideas are the first step to getting those ideas realized; and Sanders is one of the leaders in terms of starting that conversation.

Also, I should say, I’m happy to do my part, in terms of paying a bit more in taxes so other people can have the same opportunities that I had (and if we do it right, nobody’s bottom line goes up all that much, if at all, because we’ll make stuff more cost effective and better allocate resources). It’s only fair; my favorite bit of Christian scripture has to with “the least of these”. If you swing that way, caring for the poor and marginalized is pretty much your overriding mortal mandate; heck, it ought to be even if you’re not (especially if you’re not, as then it’s kind of all about how things are here and now, not in some afterlife). The thing is, if “the least of these” are better taken care of, then we’re all better off – rising tide lifting all boats, etc…Society as a whole is better off if everybody is healthy, educated, and able to more effectively contribute.

If that makes me a Socialist, well, I’ll gladly take the label. I think it’s the least I can do, given the opportunities I received; “Paying it Forward” is a very good thing, and it’s the direct opposite of the “Screw You, I Got Mine” philosophy the other side has been spewing since the 80s, and has only gotten frothier about in the years since.

Like I said yesterday, Primary day is the time to shape the conventional wisdom, not play into it. Today, I’m going to drive the conversation. The polls and such out there today don’t necessarily give Sanders the best shot at the nomination, but those are polls, not votes. No matter who I end up voting for in the general election, today I’m casting my vote for an ideal, in hopes of giving that ideal weight in the national conversation, no matter who ends up on the ballot in November.

And if you’re on the other side and can’t vote in the Democratic primary? I still think you should vote, but of the five or six folks still in the running on the Republican side, I’m not sure any of them really represent the kind of ideals I just spent three paragraphs pontificating on; I know all of them profess to speak from a Christian perspective, though I’m not sure any of them really walk that way, at least the way I read it. My suggestion? Vote your conscience, but if you could make sure your conscience has what’s best for all of us in mind, I’d appreciate it.