Purvis, James: - J.M. Purvis is a transplanted Midwesterner who loves good coffee, talking with friends, and rooting (hopefully) for the Knicks. He is also a military veteran (combat), a former journalist, and currently teaches at New York University. J.M. has watched this country change for a very long time, both politically and culturally. He has watched the enormous social progress that has resulted, uneven and often unsure, but always there. He has watched the Reaction as well, the forces opposed to change that are trying so hard to force us back. 2016 was a catalyst, a moment that led him to the realize that America had arrived at a crossroads, a moral turning point much bigger than politics and elections, and that if we Democrats .. the only real party left .. don't grasp that, the country is in trouble. He waited patiently for someone else to write about it, to produce something in the vein of Common Sense, but no one did. And so Democrats 101 was born.