Life after door kicking.

Author: lifeafterdoorkicking

  • Rage by a Thousand Cuts — A First-Person Stoic Reflection

    This morning wasn’t destroyed by one big thing.It was wrecked by a thousand tiny irritants — a soggy dish towel left in the sink, my son taking the last two bananas probably to smoke out of, chores undone even after I gave extra money, him dragging his feet and making everyone late, my wife getting…

    Written by

    lifeafterdoorkicking

  • Learning to rebel against yourself.

    , , ,

    When I was young, Tupac felt like the deepest philosopher alive. He shaped the way I saw injustice and what we owe each other. Back then, I honestly believed the purpose of government was simple: help the people who can’t help themselves. Universal healthcare? Seemed like a no-brainer.Housing the homeless? I still think that one…

    Written by

    lifeafterdoorkicking

  • Two Wars, One Generation: Why Afghanistan and Iraq Veterans Deserve Proper Recognition

    , ,

    For more than twenty years, American service members fought across two completely different battlefields: Afghanistan and Iraq. A lot of us — myself included — served in both. But the way our awards are structured, you’d think those deployments were all part of one single conflict. Anyone who actually fought in them knows that’s not…

    Written by

    lifeafterdoorkicking

  • From Duty to Dad: Navigating Fatherhood After War

    , , ,

    I never really knew my dad.If you added up all the time I spent with him, it wouldn’t make six months. The first time I saw him, I was around eight, and I don’t remember doing much with him. The next time was as a preteen, and that round didn’t do me any favors —…

    Written by

    lifeafterdoorkicking

  • A Different Assignment – A Different Fate

    ,

    Today marks a day I can never forget. Twenty three years ago, the squad I was in before we deployed, hit an AT mine. I was moved to weapons squad as soon as I got in country. I’ve carried the weight of that randomness, the loss of my team, and the disillusionment that followed. I…

    Written by

    lifeafterdoorkicking

  • Enriching Your Conqueror : The Cost of Confusing Ideology for Strategy

    ,

    If Russia is the existential threat European leaders claim it is, then their behavior makes no sense. For over a decade they’ve warned of Russian aggression while funding it through energy dependence, under investing in their own defense, and redirecting moral outrage toward the one alliance that actually deters Moscow. This isn’t about ideology or…

    Written by

    lifeafterdoorkicking

  • Weighted Sunrise

    Do you need a break? From what? I could use a break from pain that doesn’t risk addiction. It would be nice to wake up and not feel my back. Not feel my nerve-damaged leg. Not feel the grinding of joints that have run out of cartilage. Not feel the scrape of bone on bone.But…

    Written by

    lifeafterdoorkicking

  • Argentina’s Libertarian Experiment: A Real-World Trial

    ,

    Commentators predicted mass suffering.Headlines promised chaos. As Javier Milei rose to power, I started observing something rare: my political ideology undergoing a real-world trial, not in a think tank or a debate hall, but in a country already brought to its knees by decades of bad policy. To the uninitiated, what followed seemed unexpected. After…

    Written by

    lifeafterdoorkicking

  • You Can’t Violate the Constitution and Then Hide Behind It

    ,

    There’s a dangerous sleight of hand happening in public discourse: people violate the Constitution, trample the rights of others, and when consequences follow, they suddenly cloak themselves in constitutional language and call it “protest.” That isn’t principled dissent. It’s bad faith.The Constitution is not a prop. It’s a contract. And contracts don’t work if one…

    Written by

    lifeafterdoorkicking