Civic Essays
What We Owe the Next Generation
There is a kind of conversation that has gone out of fashion in this country, and we are paying for its absence. It is the conversation older people used to [...]
The Havok Journal | Military & Veteran News, Commentary, Culture
- Politics Is the Only Racket That’s Legal September 4, 2026There is an old saying that circulates with remarkable frequency whenever public confidence in government declines: “Politics is the only racket that’s legal.” The quotation is widely repeated, although its precise origin is difficult to establish. Unlike many famous political aphorisms, it cannot be reliably traced to a single individual or publication. It appears to […]Charles Faint
- Why I Ruck When Nobody Makes Me September 4, 2026It’s 0300 on a Thursday at Camp Rogers, Fort Benning. Day 4 of Ranger School, RAP week, and we’re about to start the 12-mile ruck. Our bodies are more broken than any RAP week class before us, and there’s a reason for that. My class was the guinea pig. The Army rolled out the new […]James B.
- A UK Combat Veteran’s Fight After War September 4, 2026This originally appeared in vocal media as “Who is Justin Haywood?” and is republished here with the author’s permission. ________ It was suggested that I had borderline personality disorder/emotionally unstable personality disorder at age 38, following a mental breakdown that followed a breakdown of my body. In hindsight, all the signs were there but I […]Special Guest
- Before the Gun Appears September 3, 2026The call came in as an individual carrying a firearm inside an apartment building. Nothing had happened yet. No shots fired. No foot pursuit. No fight. I was not running upstairs or wrestling with anyone. From the outside, and especially watching the body camera afterward, the call did not look particularly dramatic. We were outside […]Sergeant Ayman Kafel, MSC
- Your Doctor Says Yes and a Spreadsheet Says Prove It September 3, 2026There was a charming period in human history when getting sick involved finding a doctor. America improved this primitive arrangement by adding a third party whose medical contribution is asking whether you’ve considered remaining sick. Welcome to prior authorization, the health insurance ritual where your physician examines you, diagnoses you, recommends treatment, and then somebody […]Tammy Pondsmith
