For many of my close friends, it has been no secret of my disdain for Hillary Clinton. She's the epitome of the establishment in an anti-establishment year. She has spoken before Wall Street investors for fundraisers, supported heinous free trade agreements until recently (think TPP), has been a friend of school reformers (think Bill & Melinda Gates and Michelle Rhee) and has towed the Democratic Party's mainstream for years, when it goes against everything the party used to (and should still) stand for. In her column from earlier this month, makes the case for why she's supporting Trump.

However, the tide has changed. Even Bernie Sanders, who has been a hero of mine for years now (and I know isn't perfect either) admits he's voting for Hillary. Here's why both Bernie and I (reluctantly so) are voting for Hillary:

1. If free college is not feasible, make it more accessible: Not everyone has access to a job that pays well enough during and/or after college to pay back student loans. There are enough people paying such extreme student loans that they can't afford their own place. I do agree with some Republicans (and Mike Rowe) that we need more money for job training programs.
2. The American Dream is broken: Gone are the days where you could right out of high school get a job with a comfortable living wage. Millennials are either putting off starting families or not doing so because they simply cannot afford to do so. While organized labor is not perfect (A Salon Magazine writer argues that October 1973 marks the beginning of the decline of America's middle class, and in part pinpoints labor), America's standard of living was at its peak in the 1950s and 1960s. Being from Upstate New York, I see the scars of globalization and deindustrialization. Is America too far gone to bring back its manufacturing muscle?
3. Hillary knows the job: The former Secretary has been First Lady, a US Senator, a Cabinet secretary and a skilled attorney. Donald Trump has been the director of a long list of failures (anyone remember Trump Shuttle?). She might be as shrewd and manipulative as Frank Underwood, but at least she doesn't send off insulting tweets to others, and doesn't have a long-standing, ridiculous grudge against a television personality.
4. The importance of appointing Supreme Court justices who see the constitution as a living document: I admit that I am not a strict interpretationist of the Constitution. It was written at a time when the Founding Fathers did not believe that Americans were competent enough to elect their own leaders. One might question Hillary Clinton's ethics, but her legal background makes me confident that she will find highly qualified jurors to sit on the bench. While I don't think Preet Bharara will every be on the Supreme Court, I think he would make a very good Attorney General.
5. Donald Trump's personality: I cannot begin to fear what foreign leaders would think if they had to approach Trump as our President.
6. America's reputation at stake: This is the big one for me. If Trump is elected, it will verify in the eyes of our international friends and allies that Americans are unintelligent and cannot critically think.
7. Instead of making America great, let's make America better: Trump's theme is hyper-nationalism at its worst. I might be an American citizen, but I am also a citizen of Planet Earth.
8. Climate change: Need I say more? Trump's rhetoric is also somewhat selfish.
9. Jill Stein's so-so polling numbers: I admit I'm as much as socialist as Bernie Sanders, if not more so. This however, is a bigger problem with the two-party system that our Constitution never addressed, nor needed to when it was written.
10. As for socialism, ask Norway: I am a bit of a socialist myself and am no friend of neoliberalism. Government in part exists to do things that private enterprise cannot do profitably. Social institutions like schools, hospitals, etc should not be designed to maximize profits. It seriously bothers me that America (and the rest of the world) has become more focused on profits and less on people. While not perfect, the Nordic model shows its strength: Scandinavian countries have some of the highest standards of living in the world. Scandinavians have ample public transportation, paid healthcare, paid maternity leave, heck, Finland gives new parents a “maternity box,” filled with baby essentials. Count me in! That's called your tax dollars at work.
11. If Hillary promises the continuation of Obama's presidency, I'm for it: While the Obama presidency has been by no means perfect, the fact that he has accomplished what he has with such huge congressional opposition is nothing short of amazing.
12. She's a woman: I REALLY didn't want to bring gender into this, but an article written by Therese Huston of the University of Seattle, citing research by others in her field have shown that when “pressure is on, women bring unique strengths to decision making”. Credit Suisse examined almost 2,400 global corporations from 2005 to 2011 — including the years directly preceding and following the financial crisis — and found that large-cap companies with at least one woman on their boards outperformed comparable companies with all-male boards by 26 percent. And plus, it's about time we shatter a glass ceiling. Never have I ever voted for a candidate for President on their gender, but this is where there is an exception to the rule when the opposing major party's candidate is a hyper-chavunist. We've had 44 men run this country. Maybe it is time for a woman to be the Commander-in-Chief. I look at it from the “figurative” definition of insanity (doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results)- those 44 men in recent years have made crucial errors in judgment, including devastating tax cuts that have harmed America's bottom line.

However, if the Republicans end up not nominating Trump and block his candidacy, I would hope the Democrats consider at least doing likewise. While it might show strength to not do so as a sign of stability, but 2016 is an anti-establishment year. The very fact that Brits voted to leave the European Union is a clear sign. Unless something happens soon, the stability of the world is at risk.