I’m Terrified of Raising My Kids in This America [OPINION]

Living in America right now is like being a mafia boss when Steven Seagal walks in -- you don't exactly know what's he's doing with that pool cue, you just know that it's going to hurt.

To say that the senseless brutality of the last few days has been a wake up call for me is a severe understatement. I'd compare it more to what addicts refer to as a "moment of clarity." Imagine waking from a euphoric slumber and coming to the realization that you've been passed out on the floor of a crack house the whole time. Now imagine that the crack house is engulfed in flames, and burning to the ground with you in it. That's kind of how America feels right now. My reaction to both the state of this country and the hypothetical burning crack house can best be summed up with two thoughts:

How did it come to this?

and

I've gotta get out of here!

When I was a teenager, maybe 15 or 16, I assumed that all of these racial issues would be a distant memory when I was older. I didn't (and still don't) care about the color of a person's skin and none of my friends did either, so I assumed that once we were adults everyone would just be cool. Unfortunately, I was just a naive, privileged white kid who didn't know s---. It's 20 years later, and boy was I wrong. It's somehow worse now than it ever was then. Add about 50 other society-crippling political, economical, environmental, and safety issues and that's our reality right now.

In the past year, we've seen drugs and disease kill our heroes, terrorism rip lives apart, hatred become mass murder, protection become execution, and people fighting hate with hate. Facts are debatable, bigotry is applauded, weapons are more important than people, and nothing is sacred. This country is eating itself alive and we're all helplessly watching it happen on Facebook Live.

It breaks my heart that this is the world I have to send my children into. In stark contrast to my assumptions as a teenager, things are getting exponentially worse as time goes on. I can't even imagine where we'll be in another decade, when my kids will all be on their way into, the "real world." I don't want to let them go if it's like this. Hell, I don't even think I want to go out into the "real world" anymore.

This isn't the America I thought I was living in -- it's much more horrifying.  We're all walking a tightrope with no safety net, asses hanging in the wind while we dodge bullets. I'm not a Trump supporter, but in light of recent events -- I say we build a wall right now. Build it around my house and come get me when all this s--- gets sorted out.

Until our paths cross again, be excellent to each other.