On November 8th, registered voters all over the United States of America will democratically elect the next leader of their nation. Just like any presidential election in this country, the race has shifted the international focus right to D.C, where opinions differ dramatically, tax records and emails aren't disclosed and one of the candidates believes that building a giant wall is the most obvious way to deal with immigration reform.

Never in history have two candidates caused so much confusion and chaos within their voters, and for the first time in history, a woman has been nominated as a presidential candidate (and with very promising ratings). The debates seem like a playground dispute over who has the coolest toys, the same candidate who's obsessed with walls and racial profiling felt it was appropriate to insult war veterans and even at this point, no real issues or policies have actually been debated.

During what's arguably the most bewildering decision the American population will have to make this year, non-Americans such as yours truly will sit on the bleachers and watch as the US makes history as it'll either elect its first female president or its first aggressively conservative bigot tyrant.

While I admit that due to the chaos that is the Brazilian political sphere, I don't have the morale to weigh in on other nations' politics, however, as I have been living in this country for a while and plan to continue doing so, it is in my best interest to be as informed as possible. At the same time, however, the outcome of this circus will affect more than just those within American borders, so in the end, whether I get to vote or not, I'll live to feel the repercussions on a personal level anyway.

At the very beginning, Americans were enthralled with the options, where candidates left and right were building their running platforms and going at each other's jugular, a political race like any other. In the beginning, we also had a good laugh at watching Donald Trump's measly attempt at running for president of one of the most powerful nations in the world. However, what at first seemed to be just a sad joke has now turned into the biggest threat to contemporary America, and it is absolutely baffling that we've allowed him to get this far.

As I've furthered my research into the absolute lunacy of The Donald and have attempted to understand the motivations of those who willingly have decided to vote for the sack of old, rotting potatoes that he is, I've found myself more and more dumbfounded. A man who believes we need a wall to "keep out Mexicans" because "they're bringing in drugs, crime and rape," that all Muslims are terrorists and should be banned," that we need to "Make America Great Again," that women are subpar to men, who openly declared that "climate change is a hoax created by the Chinese" and who's idea of diplomacy includes "bombing the shit out of ISIS," should not be in charge of an entire sovereign nation. A man who has absolutely no concept of how the American political system works, someone who wants to run this country the same way he's run his businesses (many of which have failed terribly) and who declared, on national television, he thinks he's "smart" for avoiding federal taxes for 18 years, should absolutely, 100% not run an entire country.

On the other hand, we have Hillary Clinton, a candidate who's credibility has been seriously compromised since her false statements have been fact checked and the world learned of her secret email server, scandals that have led Trump to call her "Crooked Hillary" (despite the fact that his pants might as well be on fire every time he opens his mouth). Other scandals have surrounded Hillary and her campaign (whether she may or may not have rigged the DNC in her favor) and many would argue that voting for her would be just as bad as voting for Trump. Yet, Hillary has a huge advantage on The Donald, where, while he has his claim to fame and money, Hillary is well-versed in politics - after all, she's been Secretary of State for the Obama administration and First Lady (not to mention the rest of her extensive political resumé).

But, it wasn't always this way, we once had a beacon of hope who could've done great things and completely changed the course of these elections, but, as anything good goes, the American people failed to trust the potential of Bernie Sanders. Second to why people would vote for Drumpf, my biggest, most itching concern is why Bernie didn't get the nomination - or why he wasn't taken seriously at any point in time. Bernie has been fighting for the same issues ever since he began his political career, he fights for actual change, for the protection of Native land, to close the gender gap, to end police brutality and so much more; it's his consistency and honesty that had me sold from the start.

But, alike most democracies, even though the American people had a promising and decent candidate, they decided to completely ignore that and resort to the two most ludicrous options. The way I see it, Americans should definitely not elect Donald Trump, not only because of the actual negative repercussions on the country's political and economic status, but also because having him be the face of this country would be the biggest PR nightmare we could ever conjure. Not to mention the fact that his words carry A LOT of weight, and with all of his fear mongering, he's able to lobotomize his followers into thinking it's okay to say all the racist, misogynistic, ableist, bigoted nonsense he's spewed and into believing anything he says. My biggest concern isn't The Donald in itself, but the fact that he's disseminating a message so divisive and negative that will backtrack so many progressive social achievements that will do much, much more harm than we think.

Hillary, of course, hasn't been the most honest and open candidate, however, given Bernie's rise in popularity but lack of nomination, she's had to side with some of his policies and promises as she attempted to win over the percentage of Democrats who initially were "feeling the Bern". And to be very honest, I'll give her the benefit of the doubt because, despite her many flaws and lies, it's still better to elect her over him and his absolutely incompetent policies. Even though we know that a Clinton presidency will be awful, self-serving and scheming, it's still better than voting for a man who is a serial liar, incites political violence, harasses and demeans women, flips flops whenever he discusses his politics and basically just spews absurdity because of his gullible and easily coerced demographic of voters.

In a general sense, it's fair to say that 2016 hasn't been the best year for the world. Our levels of carbon dioxide have reached a haunting historical high, causing more irreversible dents to our ozone layer, over 65.3 million people have been displaced due to war and persecution, and the overwhelming rise of reported Zika cases looms over developing nations, not to mention the whole plethora of issues we're faced with on an international scale. The world is already turning into a darker place with every passing day, and not electing Donald Trump as president isn't going to solve all of the problems I just listed, but it's a start in the right direction. There is absolutely no actual, concrete reason to vote for the Republican candidate (if you can even call him a Republican) other than because you applaud his neoliberal, bigoted approach to literally everything.

I'd love to say that I believe in the power of third parties in this election, but sadly, most American voters don't believe that there's other options outside of the two major parties. So while people don't believe that they can opt for other, more promising candidates, a vote for a third party will be a vote for Trump. From an external point of view, I think that now is the time for the country to work together to prevent the worst from happening, because despite knowing that Hillary isn't the ideal candidate, the more compelling reason to vote for her is to ensure that the vote doesn't go to him.

She's the safest option, because when it comes down to it, the last thing we need is a man with a short, explosive temper, a fragile ego, and a predisposition for inciting violence and hate. I cannot stress how important it is to stop Trump's words of hatred and cruelty, and more importantly, how important it is to make sure he isn't able to act on all the things he's said so far. Trump is unfit for office, he's threatening, imprudent, ignorant and the simple fact that he's gotten this far should scare us all. A vote for Hillary is a vote against Trump, it is a vote against hate, violence and discrimination - a vote for Hillary will ensure the American people don't make the mistake of electing an oppressive imperialist.